Plant a Tree for The Jubilee
To mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, The Queen’s Green Canopy is an initiative inviting people across the United Kingdom to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. Full information is available at The Queen’s Green Canopy (queensgreencanopy.org) including a quiz about trees.
Chief Scout Bear Grylls has already planted a tree for the Queen's Green Canopy.
Recently Scout Leaders, on a Climate Emergency Training course with Keep Scotland Beautiful, identified that one of the ways that Leaders in Scotland could directly support young people to take direct action themselves against climate change, while improving the environment in their neighbourhood and benefitting their local community, would be for Scout Groups with their own hall and grounds to think about how they could improve their soft landscaping, while other Groups might consider participating in local community greening initiatives or starting their own.
The Woodland Trust provide advice on planting and caring for trees at Tree Planting Advice - Plant Trees - Woodland Trust including collecting your own tree seeds for growing trees.
TCV in Scotland | Connecting People and Green Spaces are also offering free trees to community groups and have a handbook about growing native trees from seed available to download: ASH Handbook (tcv.org.uk).
If you would prefer to grow a tree in a container, The RHS offers advice at Trees: growing in containers / RHS Gardening.
Whatever your Group or Section decide to do, please photograph your Jubilee tree planting and upload the image at Map - The Queen’s Green Canopy (queensgreencanopy.org). If you would like to mark the occasion with a plaque, physical and virtual commemorative plaques are available from Commemorative Plaques - The Queen’s Green Canopy (queensgreencanopy.org).
An official Platinum Jubilee Badge will be available to purchase from the Scout Store in April 2022.
82nd Fife (Balmullo) Scoup Group ordered hedging packs from the Woodland Trust Free Trees for Schools and Communities Scheme: Free Trees for Schools and Communities - Woodland Trust and with permission, of a local farmer, planted them along a popular core path to reinforce a bank.
30th Glasgow Scout Group from Cardonald planted native trees and hedging on Achray Farm in a project funded by Loch Lomond & Trossach National Park. They also used this activity to raise sponsorship and raised funds towards the replacement of the roof of their Scout Hall.
The Scouts and Explorer’s walk to the planting site was timed to coincide with the farm goats daily walk to Loch Achray!
Links to related activity badges on The Scouts website:
Community Impact Staged Activity Badge: Community Impact Staged Activity Badge | Scouts
Activities for Squirrels: Need for seeds | Activities | Scouts; To grow or not to grow | Activities | Scouts
Beaver Gardener Activity Badge: Gardener Activity Badge | Scouts
Cub Gardener Activity Badge: Cubs Gardener Activity Badge | Scouts
Scouts Forester Activity Badge: Scouts Forester Activity Badge | Scouts
