Pledging Scheme Launched

Working with Faiths4Change, The Mersey Forest is rolling out a pledging scheme to all of our LSTF target areas. Anyone taking part in the pledging scheme will be asked to fill in one of our cards stating that they pledge to walk and cycle more, as part of the LSTF programme.

In return they will receive a signed certificate showing that they have agreed to walk and cycle more, to look after trees and to spend more time outdoors.

Anyone signing up to the pledging scheme will also have the opportunity to sign up as a supporter of the Mersey Forest, enabling them to receive our newsletter which provides more detail and stories from across the Forest area. This will allow them to keep up to date with the projects and activities happening right across The Mersey Forest.

South Sefton and North Liverpool Green Schools

The Mersey Forest team have also been busy planting in South Sefton and North Liverpool over the last few months:

Pupils and staff from Rimrose Hope Primary School in Seaforth have created an orchard within their school grounds, with help from The Mersey Forest. Pupils helped to plant apples, pears, and plums which will be carefully nurtured by their gardening club. The project will enable them to learn more about where food comes from, as well as gaining health benefits from spending time outdoors gardening. They will use the harvested fruit to design healthy recipes and in cooking. The whole school got involved with the planting, either by carrying tools and trees to the site, digging holes, or planting trees. It was great to see so many enthusiastic tree planters, who really enjoyed getting out of the classroom to help with planting. 

Staff and children from Cambridge Nursery and Children’s Centre in Bootle joined staff from The Mersey Forest to green their outdoor space through tree planting. A combination of small whips (30-60 cm tall trees) and larger standard trees were planted, to create interest and shade throughout the play area. The planting will provide valuable homes for wildlife, as well as create much needed shade for the summer months, as the play area was previously quite exposed. Children aged 2-4 took part in digging and planting trees and bulbs, with lots of excitement over the discovery of creepy crawlies living in the soil. Despite the invertebrate distractions, there was still time to plant over 50 trees and lots of bulbs!

The Mersey Forest staff helped children and staff from Fountains Children Centre in North Liverpool to introduce some more trees to their outdoor space. The centre already has a selection of mature trees, shrubs and some structural ornamental trees; however the centre manager was keen to improve their outdoor area even more to provide further habitat for wildlife and provide year round colour. With advice from the Mersey Forest the centre decided they would would carry out some planting in the spaces between shrubs and trees. Species such as willow and dogwood were selected for their use in weaving, to create beautiful natural crafts with the children and hazel for its coppicing potential, to provide material for den building. The children were helped by pupils from St John’s Catholic Primary School, who assisted with tricky digging and supported the younger children to plant their own trees. It was great to see the older children helping the younger ones and everyone taking part and enjoying themselves!

Vauxhall Children’s Centre in North Liverpool worked with the Mersey Forest to solve their problem of a lack of shelter in their outdoor space. The area contained lots of play equipment for the children and space for running around but was surrounded by a green metal fence without any shelter belt planting , meaning the site was open to the elements on windy days and the only greenery was some short grass and a few standard trees. In order to improve the outlook of the site and make it feel more secluded, the Mersey Forest staff worked with the centre manager, centre staff and children to plant an area of shelter belt. This was made up of blackthorn, hawthorn, spindle, hornbeam and field maple. We also planted some larger staked fruit trees which will provide the centre with a supply of fruit that they can ‘taste test’ with the children.

The tree planting carried out in these areas was coordinated by The Mersey Forest and supported by the national Big Tree Plant campaign and the Woodland Trust.

More From Trees

The Mersey Forest team have been busy planting trees all over Merseyside and North Cheshire this winter, including the Local Sustainable Transport Fund Target areas.

In Wirral we have been working with Tomorrow's Women Wirral, to transform the outdoor space in the grounds of their centre. The women's centre is in the midst of creating a new sensory garden to host relaxation and reading activities, help the ladies learn about food growing, as well as give them a space to sit and enjoy wildlife. The donation of trees from the Mersey Forest is helping them to realise their dream of a relaxing outdoor space which also provides a valuable habitat for wildlife.

We have also been working with Holy Cross Catholic Primary School to plant a hedge and an orchard in their school grounds. Pupils of all ages joined in with the hedge planting, creating a valuable wildlife habitat and learning lots about The Mersey Forest and how to plant and care for trees. A dedicated team of older pupils carried out some tricky excavation works to plant the orchard trees, which should start to bear fruit within a couple of seasons. Everyone involved had lots of fun and will be looking forward to tasting the different apple varieties!