4,000 tree giveaway popular in Charnwood

Published: Mon 19th December, 2022

Thousands of residents, community groups and parish councils have collected their free trees to help make Charnwood even greener.

The borough council teamed up with its open spaces partner idverde to run the scheme which aimed for 4,000 trees to be planted in the borough.

Cllr Roy Rollings, lead member for transformation with responsibility for the Council’s campaign to become Carbon Neutral by 2030 said: “We are committed to ensure 100,000 trees are planted in Charnwood by 2024 and this is another step towards that pledge.

“It was great to see the giveaway was popular with residents once again. Over the past few years, we’ve handed out around 12,000 trees which will help make the borough even greener.

“For those who didn’t manage to grab a free tree this time, keep an eye out on the Council’s communication channels for any future schemes.”

Households, community groups and parish councils were able to choose up to two trees from four different varieties; Crab apple, hazel, rowan and silver birch.

Trees were allocated on a first come first served basis and people had the option of collecting them from either Birstall or Loughborough.

The free trees were given out during National Tree Week, an annual campaign by The Tree Council to mark the start of the tree planting season.

The Council also ran a stall at Loughborough Market in early December where people could go along and collect a tree if they had missed the chance to apply online.

idverde manages the borough’s parks and open spaces on behalf of the Council.

To keep up to date with the latest news about the free tree scheme, please register to receive the Council’s email alerts at www.charnwood.gov.uk/alerts