Mayfield Primary Pupils Join Tree Planting Effort

Helping revitalise Hobbayne Half Acre Fields in Hanwell

Reception and Year 1 pupils from Mayfield Primary School in Ealing joined Trees for Cities yesterday to help plant small whips in Hobbayne Half Acre Fields in Hanwell.

The children enjoyed discovering all about trees during National Tree Week, how to plant them and learning all about the different types of wildlife in the area.

Felicity Purtle, EYFS Leader/Reception Teacher at Mayfield Primary said: “We were offered the opportunity to come out and plant some trees with the children and of course we jumped at it. We thought it was a great opportunity for the children to come and experience nature and learn a bit about life cycles. Lots of the children in our school don’t often get to come out to the park or to an area of woodland so we just really wanted them to have the chance to get a bit hands on and do it themselves!”

Trees for Cities is working in partnership with the Hobbayne Half Acre Field Association and local volunteers, residents, community groups and schools to improve and revitalise specific areas at Hobbayne Half Acre Fields to make it a more welcoming, safe, leafy and resilient place to visit and enjoy. To improve public access and safety in the park, the charity have been clearing all the undergrowth to allow more light into the area and a woodland path through the field is being created to increase footfall, reduce anti-social behaviour and help to effect a positive change in the character of the space.

David Elliott, Chief Executive at Trees for Cities said: “The benefits that children get from spending a little time among the trees and connecting with nature are overlooked far too often, and with one in five children in the UK now starting school overweight or obese - a figure that rises to one in three by the time they leave school- it is more vital than ever that we get children excited about getting outside and active.”

This project is supported by Heathrow Community Fund’s Communities for Tomorrow and The Charity of William Hobbayne.

December 1, 2016