Veolia donates 500 fruit trees to 100 schools across the country, with 30 trees being planted in the Liverpool City Region
This summer Veolia, in partnership with the community action charity Groundwork, launched a new campaign to help schools blossom with biodiversity and join a national network of orchards.
In the Liverpool City Region, Veolia donated 30 trees to 6 schools including: Runcorn All Saints Primary, St Aidan’s Catholic Primary, Broadgreen Primary, All Saints Catholic Primary, Rivington Primary and Cathcart Street Primary.
The potential of trees in urban environments to combat the climate crisis is immense, not only in their contribution to increasing biodiversity and improving air quality, but their capacity to mitigate the effects of temperature rises. But more trees are needed, particularly in urban areas where temperatures are comparatively higher than rural areas and water scarce. The extreme heat waves experienced in the UK just this summer, highlighted the impact that global warming has on our local natural environments, with many trees losing their leaves like it was already autumn.
By donating orchards to schools across the Liverpool City Region, Veolia is placing the power of positive change in the hands of the future guardians of our planet. School children across the country now have the opportunity to plant their very own orchard and learn how to care for them until they bear fruit, providing them with healthy, locally sourced food and nurturing their wellbeing through a reconnection with nature.
This campaign is being powered by Veolia's Sustainable Schools programme which educates children and young adults on the importance of protecting our planet and the environment. It is initiatives such as this one that are fuelled by Veolia’s purpose to deliver ecological transformation, not just looking at one issue that urban school children are facing, but looking for ways to tackle many environmental problems with innovative solutions.
Schools across the country will begin planting their fruit trees this November as part of a tailored learning programme, supported by Veolia. For more information on how Veolia supports schools and to discover other partnership opportunities please visit www.veolia.co.uk/schools
Joe McIndoe, UK Partnerships Manager, Groundwork said:
“With the numbers of orchards in the UK in steep decline, we’re delighted to work alongside Veolia to provide free trees to primary schools and begin building this network of orchards across the country. The trees provide many benefits: fruit so that children can have the pleasure of picking and eating juicy, fresh food, shade in the summer and the tools for pupils to learn about nature guided by a handy booklet developed by Groundwork's landscaping experts. We can’t wait to see the kids planting their trees."