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Veolia Orchard Campaign Supports the Next Generation of Environmentalists

Publication date:

News Release from our waste contractor Veolia:

This summer Veolia, in partnership with the community action charity Groundwork, launched a
new campaign to help schools blossom with biodiversity and join a national network of
orchards. In St Albans, Veolia have donated a total of 40 trees to 7 local schools - including
Roundwood Primary School, Sandridge Primary School, Maple School, St Luke’s School, Prae
Wood School, and Fleetville Nursery and Junior Schools.

The potential of trees in St Alban’s urban environments to combat the climate crisis is immense, not
only in their contribution to increasing biodiversity and improving air quality, but their capacity to
mitigate the effects of temperature rises. The extreme heat waves experienced in St Albans this
summer highlighted the impact that global warming has on our local natural environments.

By donating orchards to schools in St Albans, Veolia is placing the power of positive change in the
hands of the future guardians of our planet. School children across the country now have the
opportunity to plant their very own orchard and learn how to care for them until they bear fruit,
providing them with healthy, locally sourced food and nurturing their wellbeing through a reconnection
with nature.

This campaign is being powered by Veolia's Sustainable Schools programme which launched during
the pandemic to continue its work in educating children and young adults on the importance of
protecting our planet and the environment.

It is initiatives such as this one that are fuelled by Veolia’s purpose to deliver ecological transformation, not just looking at one issue that urban school children are facing, but looking for ways to tackle many environmental problems with innovative solutions.

Schools across the country will begin planting their fruit trees this October as part of a tailored learning
programme, supported by Veolia. For more information on how Veolia supports schools and to
discover other partnership opportunities please visit www.veolia.co.uk/schools.

Councillor Allison Wren, Lead Councillor for Waste Management and Recycling for St Albans City and District Council, helped with the tree planting at Roundwood Primary School and said:

I'm absolutely delighted to see the children so enthusiastically talking about the natural world and the contribution trees make to the oxygen we breathe and carbon dioxide we must take out of the environment. In Roundwood School in Harpenden North, the gardening club has really taken off. We're delighted to be part of this lovely orchard project sponsored by our waste management partner Veolia.

As a Council, we are committed to making the District carbon neutral by 2030 and planting more trees is one of the many actions that we are taking to achieve that goal. This initiative by Veolia and Groundwork is a welcome addition to our own tree planting work.

 

Pascal Hauret, Managing Director, Municipal at Veolia said:

The extraordinary response to the Veolia Orchard campaign highlights how important trees are, not just for the environment but for the positive impact they have on the education and wellbeing of school children in our local communities. We’re delighted to be partnering with Groundwork and all the teams look forward to helping this national network of orchards take root.

Joe McIndoe, UK Partnerships Manager, Groundwork said:

With the numbers of orchards in the UK in steep decline, we’re delighted to work alongside Veolia to provide free trees to primary schools and begin building this network of orchards across the country.

The trees provide many benefits: fruit so that children can have the pleasure of picking and eating juicy, fresh food, shade in the summer and the tools for pupils to learn about nature guided by a handy booklet developed by Groundwork's landscaping experts. We can’t wait to see the kids planting their trees.

Veolia media contact: Martina Gregorova, 07485604592, martina.gregorova@veolia.com