Green fingered Lions are ‘treemendous’

Published Friday, 04 December 2020

Members of the Hinckley and Burbage Lions pulled on their wellies, grabbed a spade and dug in to help plant trees at Burbage Common.

The green fingered volunteers planted 30 trees made up of silver birch, wild cherry and rowan, all native British trees, in an area of Burbage Common extension land, which they had sourced from the Woodland Trust. 

The session at Burbage Common was organised by the Borough Council in support of the Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback campaign which aims to plant trees in publicly accessible areas. The charity wants to get more community groups involved in tree planting hoping that, by 2025, there will be a tree planted for every person in the country. 

Executive Member for Parks and Open Spaces at the Borough Council, Councillor Bill Crooks said: “Our thanks to Hinckley and Burbage Lions for doing this. We love our green spaces in the borough and the new trees will make our green spaces even better for future generations. Planting trees is one of the simplest ways of reducing carbon emissions in the atmosphere and it’s just one of a number of measures we will be taking to tackle climate change.”

Hinckley and Burbage Lions was formed in 1973 and has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local causes. They have supported individuals in times of crisis, helped other groups such as the Air Ambulance, Salvation Army and First Responders to continue their good work and, recently, they have been collecting for Hinckley Foodbank where, helping to raise over £4,000 worth of essential household supplies. 

For more information visit their facebook page: Hinckley and Burbage Lions (facebook.com) or email [email protected]

The Woodland Trust provides free tree packs for community groups and schools who would like to get involved and organise a tree planting session. All of the trees provided by the charity will be native broadleaf varieties, such as oak, birch and hawthorn. For more details please see the Woodland Trust’s website (woodlandtrust.org.uk)