Premier plants 4,000 trees for the Young People’s Forest

The target for the day was to plant at least 3,000 trees that are native to the area including holly, silver birch, alder, and oak. By the end of the day a total of 4,000 indigenous saplings were planted, despite a few cold hands.

Hussein Ismail, Marketing Manager at Premier said, “it was great to finally get together with so many of our customers and suppliers again, to plant trees with the Woodland Trust. It might have been a cold day, but everyone was smiling throughout! It was great to meet up with our friends from the Woodland Trust and the Outdoor Guide, as well as meeting Gemma Hunt.”

The 162-hectare, Young People’s Forest Mead is in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside. In 2015 mining ceased and the Woodland Trust planned to plant 250,000 trees, helping to create a safe and educational outdoor space for generations to come: as well as bountiful habitats for endless species of insects, foxes, deer, hare, owls, skylarks and badgers.

Hussein added, “the Young People’s Forest Mead is a special place with incredible ambitions. It’s amazing to think that we have played a small part in helping to build their legacy. We’re thankful to everybody who attended, planted trees and helped to create a fantastic day.”

Premier’s work with the Woodland Trust began ten years ago. Premier’s Carbon Capture programme has grown with well over 600 customers fully signed up and committed to the cause. To date Premier and its customers have raised more than £1.3m for the Woodland Trust, planting over 330,000 trees and capturing over 80,000 tonnes of CO₂.

Another of Premier’s long-standing key partners who helped to plant trees at the Young People’s Forest is The Outdoor Guide (TOG). In the United Kingdom in 2018-19, there were 4.2million children living below the poverty line (the equivalent of 9 children in every class of 30). TOG, with the help of CBeebies television presenter Gemma Hunt, has launched a campaign to deliver 10 waterproof suits and wellies to 20,000 schools throughout the UK to help ensure that school children receive health, educational and social benefits from being able to play and learn outside safely.

If you are interested in supporting the work of The Outdoor Guide visit www.theoutdoorguide.co.uk, for more information about the Woodland Trust and the Young People’s Forest Mead check out www.woodlandtrust.org.uk. If you would like to discover more about Carbon Capture contact your local Premier branch or visit www.paper.co.uk.