Hazel Cottrell, from the Creative Content Company, writes about her experience of tree planting with PECT's Forest for Peterborough.
What I love about running Creative Content Company is that I am able to find out loads about what is going on in my local community – and there is always so much to get involved in. Whether its dressing up as an elf to help Rotary, supporting the prison or planting trees in the middle of the field, there is lots to get involved in around Peterborough that can help make the community a better place for everyone.
I recently came across something organised by Peterborough Environment City Trust, it was Tree Planting at Sacrewell Farm. The plan is to plant over 180,000 trees around Peterborough by 2030, which is roughly one tree for every person living in the city. The only downside was that I came across the event in October and the nearest date we could do was November… which isn’t known for its warm weather!
So, the day arrived and my partner and I, with his kids, headed down to Sacrewell Farm. Luckily it was a clear and dry day, but it was very cold and in the middle of a field there is not much protection from the wind. On arrival there was a large ditch along the side of the field and Simon came to greet us with a very friendly and warm welcome.
We quickly learnt how to dig the holes and where to plant the trees and we were off. Tree planting is not something I had ever tried before and the same can definitely be said for the kids, but we all got stuck in and had a brilliant time. In just over an hour we managed to plant 23 trees between us and we were all really pleased with the results.
It was a brilliant event for all ages, with special spades for children and adults. Hollie loved putting the ‘dresses’ on the small trees to protect them from the wind while Jamie enjoyed the ‘wiggle wiggle’ of the spade to dig a deep hole for the tree.
There are loads more tree planting dates coming up so why not contact [email protected] to find out when and where you can get involved. Although it was a cold day it was a very rewarding experience and the kids are still talking about the different animals that could live in the trees we have planted.