Tree Boost For Lichfield Canal Trust
A Lichfield group whose national organisation celebrates its 40 anniversary in 2022 is marking the occasion by donating £1 for each of its 680 members to the city's canal trust's tree fund.
Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust will benefit from the generosity of the local branch of u3a, which is a UK-wide movement of locally-run interest groups providing learning and leisure activities for retired people.
Judith Thorpe, chair of Lichfield u3a, explained: “We were looking for a lasting way to celebrate the u3a's 40th birthday and so when we heard that the Canal Trust was hoping to plant trees along the Lichfield spur of the canal, we offered to help.
“We have 680 local members, and when we asked them if they agreed to us contributing to the Canal Trust's Tree fund they agreed – so we seized the opportunity to plant now.
“By the time the official birthday comes around the trees should be well established and everyone's experience of walking along the canal paths should be even better.” Peter Buck, LHCRT engineering director, said: “We are very grateful for Lichfield u3a's generous donation.
“As well as the extensive restoration of the Heritage Towpath Trail and canal
across Lichfield, this generous donation of trees by u3a is the first key
restoration activity on a new section of the Lichfield Canal along Falkland Road.
“This not only helps to secure the roadside boundary but also meets the Trust's
objectives to provide a green corridor, an environmental enhancement to wildlife
and biodiversity and an amenity for the people of Lichfield to enjoy for many
years to come.”
More trees planted.
With the generous donation by Lichfield u3a for trees alongside the canal at Falkland Road, the Trust volunteers set about finding suitable trees at a local garden centre, together with tree stakes and ties and arranging delivery ready for planting. For this planting of the fifteen u3a trees the Trust mobilised our excavator to dig the holes and drive the stakes into the hard and stoney ground along the Falkland Road verge Lichfield u3a volunteers joined the Trust on Monday afternoon for joint and successful planting of the donated trees along Falkland Road.
The Lichfield Canal Trust is very great full to Lichfield u3a for this donation and this takes us to the next stage of restoration of the canal on this section.
Peter Buck
For more information about Lichfield u3a visit
https://u3asites.org.uk/lichfield/welcome,
and to find out more about Lichfield
and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust, visit
https://lhcrt.org.uk/
