Wakefield schools and communities to benefit from Woodland Trust’s free tree giveaway

Schools and community groups in Wakefield can now apply for free trees to help the environment as part of a Woodland Trust scheme.

The trust is hoping to break its record of more than 1.3m free trees after almost 9,000 schools and community groups benefited from the ever-popular scheme in 2022.

Applications for trees to be delivered in spring 2023 are now open and Woodland Trust senior project lead Vicki Baddeley hopes even more schools and groups will take up the offer of free saplings and get planting in the coming year.

She said: “This year our communities have really felt the impact of climate change first hand, and many are seeing the incredible benefits trees can bring to provide much needed shade, shelter, and help to prevent flooding.

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“By offering the free packs we aim to equip our schools and communities with a simple yet mighty tool to combat the effects of climate change, as well as provide ever more vital food and habitats for local wildlife.”

The figures for 2022 are the trust’s best yet, surpassing the previous best total of more than 1.1m in 2021.

The Woodland Trust’s free tree packs scheme has seen trees sent far and wide this year, with the spring giveaway alone delivering a total 623,910 saplings to 3,865 organisations across the UK.

The tree packs are funded by lead partners: Sainsbury's, Lloyds Bank, Ovo Energy, DFS, Joules, Bank of Scotland and Sofology.

Baddeley added: “We couldn't do this without the support and generosity of our funders. We have great backing and our thanks go out to each of them for their vital support.

“The desire to plant trees is growing all the time and we expect demand for our free trees to be even greater this time out.

“There will be 600,000 saplings up for grabs in the spring round of applications and I have no doubt they will go quickly so I would advise any interested groups to apply sooner rather than later to secure their saplings!

“Giving away 1.3m in 2022 will be a huge achievement, but I am confident we can do even better in 2023 and deliver every one of the 1.4m saplings available.”

To apply, or see terms and conditions, visit: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/freetrees