Trees for Reading

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Trees for Reading

Making Reading greener, healthier and happier

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.

In association with Reading Tree Wardens and Reading Borough Council, we’re offering local organisations the opportunity to make a positive difference by sponsoring the planting and care of trees within the town.

What are the benefits of urban trees?

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.

Why get involved?

Your organisation’s staff 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 heading towards 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.

What next?

Would you like your organisation to make a tangible positive difference by helping to increase Reading’s tree coverage?

The standard fee to sponsor a single tree is £350 + 10% management fee – a total of £385. That includes:

£200 for a substantial young tree (3-3.5 metres tall and 12-14cm around the trunk)
£150 to cover care and maintenance for the first two years (eg watering in summer) – crucial to ensuring that the trees will survive and thrive
+ 10% management fee to cover professional accounting, project management and marketing support

In addition to paying to sponsor a tree, businesses can volunteer staff time to help with planting and caring for trees. We also welcome offers or suggestions of suitable space for tree planting.

Find out more about the initiative and the impact of urban trees.

If you have any questions or your organisation is ready to sponsor a tree, please contact Gill Ringland at gill@ethicalreading.org.uk.

For schools

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 make a difference by sponsoring a tree.

If you’d like to talk about your school getting involved, please email us at sustainability@ethicalreading.org.uk.

For individuals

In response to feedback, we’re now accepting smaller donations from individuals too, to build up a community tree planting fund.

To donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ethical-reading.

Thank you!

Useful resources

Here is a collection of useful resources for you: