Volunteer day to clean woodland

Published Wednesday 17 July, 2024
Last updated on Wednesday 17 July, 2024

Could you help finish removing 5,000 tree covers from a community woodland?

Swale Borough Council, working with volunteers and a local business, has organised a community volunteer day, on 26 July, to help collect and remove thousands of tree covers from Kingsborough Manor Woodlands.

Five thousand whips, which were planted with protective tree covers alongside a development in Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, have now grown into 13 hectares of beautiful community woodland.

However, the trees have outgrown their protective guards, and a group of committed volunteers have been working hard to collect and clear the fallen covers.

CDDL Recycling are providing the tonne bags needed to collect the guards and have offered to remove and recycle the covers for free.

Volunteers are being asked to meet at 10 am on Friday 26 July in Kingsborough Manor Community Woodlands car park (off Plough Road) ME12 4ST.

Volunteers need to bring gloves and are encouraged to bring a flask of hot coffee or tea.

If you are planning on travelling to the island, please use the Sheppey Crossing as the Kingsferry Bridge will be closed (from 19 July to 28 July) and leave more time to travel as journeys may take longer.

Cllr Rich Lehmann, chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to have so many amazing volunteers within our community who work hard to keep Swale clean, whether on our beaches or our green spaces like Kingsborough Manor Woodlands.

“Sadly, the council’s resources are being constantly stretched and these large-scale clean-ups wouldn’t be possible without the help of these volunteers and local businesses.

“We have promised to assist the volunteers as best we can, and we are proud to have been able to work together to make this volunteer day possible.

“Making the creation of woodlands a part of new developments, which are being driven by central government policy, is an amazing way to utilize them to make a positive impact to our residents' lives.

“Trees not only help remove carbon from our atmosphere, reduce the risk of flooding on our roads and improve our biodiversity, but also offer places for people to get active and enjoy nature.

“A big thank you to everyone who has been involved so far, we cannot do it alone so please come to our volunteer day and help make Swale a greener place for all.”

Amy Harris, the Sustainability Coordinator from CDDL, Said

“Our dedicated CDDL Recycling team will collect and process the guards ready to be made into new exciting products, but we need the community’s help.

“We require volunteers to collect and place guards in designated bags, supplied by CDDL Recycling, with volunteers already being a huge support.

“There are thousands of tree guards within the park that need collecting and recycling, together we can make a difference.”