Haringey resident and local charity worker, Mash Alam, has sponsored a tree for his community. He had specifically wanted to give something back, and planting a tree to help green up the local area seemed the right thing to do.
We met up with Mash to show him the tree and say thank-you.
WOOD GREEN, HARINGEY, NORTH LONDON
It was a blustery sunny February morning as we left the tube station at Wood Green in North London. We made our way up the hill to St Michael’s church, where we’d agreed to meet Mash.
LONG TIME RESIDENT
Mash has lived in Haringey for over 30 years. He’s always looking for ways to give back to the his community.
CHRISTMAS TREE
Although he doesn’t attend St.Micheal’s, the church we met him at, he’d paid for the Christmas trees for inside of the church this year. One reason he does this is to help foster positive interfaith connections. He was clearly over the moon seeing his tree lit up in the church.
MAKING IT EASY
Mash was looking for a way to help green his neighbourhood. He wanted to plant something, but said that it is difficult finding the right way to go about it. Too much red tape. You can’t just plant into public highway. He then came across Trees for Streets – the national scheme that makes it easy for residents to donate towards the planting of new trees into local streets. ‘It’s taken the burden off the residents’, he told us, ‘you make it so easy.’ We were very pleased to get that feedback.
HELPING GREEN BOUNDS GREEN
Mash had wanted to plant a tree on the pavement outside the church, but it was too narrow, so Alex the local tree officer had found the perfect spot further down the Bounds Green Road on a large grass verge. This meant a large tree could be planted. Alex chose a Black Walnut, which in time will grow to 30 – 40 metres tall.
Mash was clearly delighted with the tree. He went on to explain his plans to sponsor more trees in Haringey in coming years. This is just the beginning.
A BIG THANK-YOU
We would like to say a big THANK-YOU to Mash. It’s people like you who help make this project so uplifting to work on.
Residents and local businesses in Haringey, and indeed in our other participating areas, have shown fantastic support for the scheme. Clearly there is a huge appetite for more tree planting in our towns and cities.
Looking to Green your neighbourhood?
So, if you’d like to do something amazing in your neighbourhood, why not sponsor a street tree. It’s very easy using our online application process, just select the location you’d like to have the tree planted and submit your sponsorship request. The council then surveys the location, and if it can go ahead, they will plant a tree that coming winter.
