Croydon Council has been given £300,000 to plant almost 500 new trees to make the borough more vibrant.
The Forestry Commission has awarded the funding that will help to plant 370 trees where there is currently low tree coverage in the area.
Additionally, Trees for Streets has received extra funding from the Mayor of London for an extra 110 trees to be planted around urban areas and parks.
The programme has partnered with Croydon Council and is designed so people can sponsor trees to ease the pressure on council budgets that have been brought about by the pandemic so trees can be planted and they hope to plant 250,000 new trees over the next ten years.
The group is run by Trees for Cities who empower communities through planting trees most affected by natural decline and common tree diseases like ash.
Executive Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry said: “We can continue to protect our biodiversity – making our streets even greener places to live as well as replacing trees lost to natural causes.”
He added: “Residents have the opportunity to keep sponsoring their own trees and create their own community legacy.”
Trees for Streets say they give residents the means to directly improve their neighbourhood and trees offer benefits to people’s mental and physical well-being.
A spokesperson for Croydon Council said they have long championed the planting of trees and the ecological benefits that accompany planting them and officers have begun drawing up potential planting locations .
They add that in recent years Croydon has planted around 2,000 trees and was one of the first local authorities to partner with Trees for Streets.
Croydon residents are already sponsoring trees including one Lloyd Park woman, Michelle, who sponsored a tree as a way to remember her late mother.
She said: “It’s fitting that something put in the ground in memory of a loved one will oversee all the ‘happenings’ in Lloyd Park for decades to come.”
Another resident, Dilan, sponsored a tree to fill an empty pit in his street where there has not been a tree in a long time.
He said: “It makes this street look cared for and encourages people to respect the street more.”
Croydon also benefited from a crowdfunded sponsorship of 14 trees between Belmont Road and Harrington Road led by two local groups People for Portland Road and WeLoveSE25.
The group needed £13,600 so they built a campaign from scratch which gained the support of the Rotary club and other backers.
To promote interest in the campaign the group used social media and as a way to get the exposure needed to maintain momentum.
At the end of the campaign, it was revealed 144 individual backers have put forward money and this led to the 14 new trees being planted.
Richard Edwards, Tree and Woodlands Officer at Croydon Council, said: “It just shows how people are keen to improve their environment and they recognise how trees can do this.”
Featured Image: Credit: Croydon Council
