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As part of Ethical Reading’s Sustainability programme, we’re mobilising Reading-based businesses to help make our town greener, literally, through our Trees for Reading initiative. This will enable Reading to enjoy more of the many benefits urban trees can bring.
Trees in towns and cities create a haven for wildlife, improve air quality and lock away carbon. They help to cool the air in summer and absorb heavy rains. They also create a better ambience, helping to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of people who live and work nearby.
We’ve teamed up with Reading Borough Council (RBC) and Reading Tree Wardens to offer local organisations the opportunity to make a tangible positive difference to our town by funding the planting and care of trees.
To maximise the impact of our initiative on the way the town looks and feels, we’re focusing on planting substantial young trees (3-3.5 metres tall and 12-14cm around the trunk) in carefully chosen locations. Our aim is to plant 10% of the trees within the IDR and 50% in other areas close to the town centre that would benefit most from additional trees. These are likely to include schools and deprived neighbourhoods, which tend to have lower levels of canopy cover. The remaining 40% will be planted across the wider Reading area.
RBC have committed to providing two years of care and maintenance, including watering, which will be crucial to ensuring that the trees survive and thrive. Any that don’t will be replaced.
In normal times your organisation’s staff probably commute to work and some may also travel for business. Meanwhile the air quality in parts of Reading is deteriorating, having a negative impact on health, and we’re in the midst of a global climate crisis.
Trees for Reading will enable your business to be part of the solution by investing in making our town greener, healthier and happier, creating a lasting legacy for the future.
As well as helping to offset your organisation’s negative impact by improving the local and wider environment, your involvement will provide a meaningful boost to its public image.
We’ll mark the trees planted with your support and acknowledge your contribution on our interactive map below to spread the word about the positive difference you have made to our town.
Funded by a single business
Funded by the local business community
Funded by the people of Reading
Funded by the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (Forestry Commission)
Trees planted in 2019-20: 8
Trees planted in 2020-21: 20
Trees planted in 2021-22: 51
If you’re involved with a local school and think there might be space on the grounds where we could plant some trees, we’d love to know about it.
Schools could also be very powerful in helping us get the word out about Trees for Reading. Imagine if all the pupils at your school wrote to the employers of their parents or guardians letting them know about the initiative and suggesting that they might like to contribute.
If you’d like to talk about your school getting involved, please email us at [email protected].
In response to feedback, we’re also accepting smaller donations from individuals, to build up a community tree-planting fund.
We planted our first community-funded tree in February 2019 outside Reading Town Hall, in association with Brighter Futures for Children, to help children in care feel Rooted in Reading. In 2021 we planted three trees in honour of people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 and other respiratory conditions.
Find out more here or, to donate, click the button below.
Here is a collection of useful resources for you:
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