It already has an impressive tree planting programme, but Ealing Council is not just content with planting over 30,000 trees since 2018 – they believe there is more work to do.
Extending the reach of its tree planting activity, the Council has joined our national scheme to enable their residents and businesses to sponsor trees in Ealing’s streets and parks, helping the council’s tree budget to go further.
Councillor Deirdre Costigan, Cabinet Member for Climate Action at Ealing Council is enthusiastic about this partnership:
We’re constantly looking at new ways to increase our tree planting budget and add to our main tree planting programme. The Trees for Streets scheme is a really exciting opportunity, which raises additional funds for tree planting through both public sponsorship and corporate fundraising.
We’re looking forward to local residents getting involved in greening their neighbourhoods and helping us reach our target of planting 50,000 across Ealing by 2026.
Deirdre Costigan, Cabinet Member for Climate Action at Ealing Council
Trees for Streets is the national street tree sponsorship scheme from the urban tree charity Trees for Cities, funded by the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund, City Bridge Trust, and People’s Postcode Lottery. The scheme is also supported by the Mayor of London.
We help people to make a difference to the world immediately on their doorstep, by working together with their local council.
Our mission is to fund the planting of more than 250,000 additional street trees nationwide over the next 10 years, by hosting online tree sponsorship schemes on behalf of local councils and delivering local promotion and engagement activity to bring these schemes to life.
We have an online app that makes it easy for anyone to sponsor a tree in their neighbourhood by making a request to their local council, empowering people to take an active role in greening their streets.
Residents can choose to sponsor a tree in their own street, or in their neighbourhood. The council then checks if the location is suitable, and if it is, arrangements are made to plant a tree the following winter: the best time to plant young trees to ensure they grow and thrive.
This year, Ealing is also one of the boroughs that will benefit from match funding from the Mayor of London. For every tree sponsored by a resident or local business, the Mayor will sponsor one further tree. This is great news for Ealing’s tree canopy!
It’s fantastic to have Ealing on board as our newest partner, and we hope to inspire and empower the local community to take a leading role in greening the streets of their borough.
This injection of funding from the Mayor of London means even more trees can be planted to benefit local residents.
Simeon Linstead, Founder and Project Director of Trees for Streets
Why are street trees important?
Street trees do so much for us:
- capture carbon dioxide and produce oxygen
- improve our health and wellbeing – both physically and mentally
- absorb air pollution
- improve air quality by acting like natural filters
- protect us from flooding
- create shading and cooling – so important in towns and cities
- make the neighbourhoods where we live that bit nicer
People can also sponsor Celebration Trees in one of Ealing’s parks and green spaces, where everyone can benefit. Celebration Trees can be sponsored for all sorts of reasons: as a lasting and sustainable memorial to a loved one, to mark a special occasion, as a unique and meaningful gift, or just because you love trees and want to give something back to your community.
Beyond sponsoring a tree, there are lots of other ways for people to get involved. Once each street tree is planted, it will need watering every week throughout the summer for 3 years to give it the best chance of survival, and any litter or weeds will need removing too, to make sure it thrives.
By donating their time (and water) to care for street trees, residents will be contributing to a legacy for their community. It’s also a great opportunity to chat with neighbours, and enjoy the fresh air these trees provide.
