Thanks to the support of the Pavers Foundation, the charitable initiative of family-owned-and-run carbon neutral footwear retailer Pavers, we recently facilitated a tree planting project at a site in Wheldrake, York to create the very first Pavers Foundation Forest.
The land was kindly donated by Graham Paver, (son of Pavers’ founder Cathy) his wife Sue and their family, after hearing of the Foundation’s desires to benefit the environment, create wildlife habitats and to help protect the planet, and the project was funded by the White Rose Forest in conjunction with Kirklees Council.
Our team in York were on site for four days preparing the land and planting trees along with volunteers from Pavers Head Office, Graham and Sue Paver and their family. The land has been planted with a mixture of 1,170 native trees, which we will look after to help them establish over the next few years. In the spring months, we will be develop the land to include a wildflower meadow and wetland area.
Jo Brehaut, Team Leader at TCV York, said: “We are delighted to be involved in this really worthwhile project to create new woodland and wildflower habitat close to York. Our skilled staff and enthusiastic volunteers make TCV ideally placed to connect funders, landowners and community/corporate volunteers, guiding them to deliver practical projects that make a clear difference to communities and the environment. Everyone at TCV York is excited to see the trees grow and wildflowers flourish as we will return to look after the trees for the next five years.”
Our work always includes integration of the local community projects, and the children of Wheldrake with Thorganby CE Primary school attended the site to help plant trees. This was the school attended by Pavers’ MD Jason Paver and his siblings as children, who are now involved with the Pavers Foundation and are passionate about environmental initiatives. The children of the school will also be designing and planting the meadow for the next stage of the project.
Sophie Tams, Pastoral & Wellbeing Lead and Reception Teacher, Wheldrake with Thorganby CE Primary School, said: “We were really excited to be approached by the Pavers Foundation and to be part of a local project like this. The children from Class 2 had such fun planting the trees with The Conservation Volunteers. They were so excited to share with their families and most enjoyed getting covered in mud too!
“The children are looking forward to being involved in the next stage of the project, designing a flower meadow and hopefully coming back to the site to see the trees and help doing more planting. When we were first contacted by the Pavers Foundation, there were a couple of members of staff who remembered the Paver children attending school! Such a great link for Pavers, our school and the community.“
The Pavers Foundation stated it was delighted to embark on this very exciting project ensuring the trees were planted sustainably so they can thrive for generations to come. The Pavers Foundation would like to extend thanks to Graham and Sue Paver for the generous donation of land, and to all who have helped with the planting.