RESTORING THE NATURAL BALANCE
Raquel, a nutritional therapist and Reiki practitioner, understands the benefits of the restoring her patients natural balance through diet and improved energy flows. So it was totally logical that she’d want to bring nature back to her West Croydon street by sponsoring a new tree to be planted outside her house. This is her story…
CROYDON TREES FOR STREETS INITIATIVE
Croydon was one of the first councils to join Trees for Streets – the innovative charity led street tree sponsorship scheme. Since launching in the borough in 2021, a growing number of residents have taken the opportunity to green up their streets by sponsoring trees outside their homes and in local parks.
Last year Raquel and her husband received a leaflet from our charity, promoting the tree sponsorship scheme, and decided taking part was the right thing to do.
Sponsor a tree with a few clicks
They used the Trees for Streets website to fill in their sponsorship request. The site enables residents to mark their desired location via an online map, and answer a few simple interactive questions about its suitability.
In her case, Raquel wanted the tree outside her house, in a Victorian terraced street in West Croydon. The request was sent to the council, who then surveyed the location to see if it was possible to plant a new tree here.
Luckily for Raquel, she’d picked the perfect spot: an existing dis-used tree pit. This means there used to be a tree planted there, but it had gone a long time ago, so it was a good opportunity to put a new one in its place.
INSTANT IMPACT
Early in spring 2022 the council contractor appeared first thing one morning in a van loaded with trees, and promptly planted a 7 year old, 3 meter tall, flowering cherry blossom, just where Raquel had requested it.
We met with Raquel and her husband shortly after her tree was planted. She was clearly delighted with it.
Other streets have more trees than this one, so I was only too happy to make a donation to have a tree planted here.
I love to have greenery around me. I really like nature.
Raquel
STREET TREES IMPROVE WELLBEING
We discussed how important street trees are for people’s general wellbeing, and it was at that point that Raquel revealed she works as a nutritional therapist and a Reiki practitioner at St. Georges Hospital, in Tooting, South London.
She went on to explain that Reiki is an energy therapy which aims to restore the natural healing abilities of the body by restoring the flow of energy. It allows the energy to flow and dissolve any blockages that might be there.
We think that tree lined streets, much like the restorative powers of Reiki, also bring back a natural energy into our built spaces. They lift the mood, restore the natural world, and generally making a walk down a street a much more enjoyable experience.
JOIN RAQUEL, GET INVOLVED
If like Raquel, you’d like to give your street an energy lift, then perhaps you might consider sponsoring a tree. If your council is participating in this scheme, simply use our app to make a request. (If your council is not working with us, or doesn’t already have a scheme, we can send them a request to get involved on your behalf.)
