Trees Breathe Life

COASTAL TOWNS AND CITIES

Trees Breathe Life is a new campaign from Trees for Cities promoting the transformational impact urban trees bring to us all, and how they can 'Breathe New Life' into urban communities.

For the 80% of the UK population who live in towns and cities, trees create green spaces which improve the quality of our urban environments. They give us a sense of belonging, wellbeing, calmness and a vital connection to nature.

Yet, in many of our coastal towns and cities, these environments are threatened like never before. Against a national target of 15% canopy cover for coastal areas, some are now as low as 4%.

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Trees breathe new life into our towns and cities. They create healthier, happier environments. They unify communities and inspire positive action for the disengaged. They can create new green jobs and skills and regenerate health and wealth for today and tomorrow.

We want our coastal towns to experience this transformational power. Planting just one tree starts a positive ripple effect through a community that spans generations… Our aim is to plant thousands.

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE.

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Some seaside areas see a tree canopy cover of just 4%, compared to a national target of 15% for coastal towns.

Many of the UK's coastal towns and cities we work with have very few trees, which can lead to grey environments that are prone to flooding. Coastal trees face a harsh growing environment, battered by salt-laden wind and a strong summer sun. They’re also particularly vulnerable to tree pests and disease.

Local authorities often lack the capacity and resources to increase and improve their urban trees and woodland, but Trees for Cities can help! Over the last 18 months, we have been working with Local Authorities, partners and communities to plant 55,000 trees in seven coastal locations.

We're on a mission to continue breathing new life into as many areas that we can but we need your help!

GET INVOLVED

Trees can’t grow without sunlight, soil and water. Likewise, our ongoing work to transform urban communities and breathe new life into towns and cities can’t evolve without three vital components: Land, Funding and You!

Register your interest below and check out how you can get involved in helping develop more urban forests.

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As well as our newsletter, we'd also love to keep you up-to-date with news about Trees for Cities, our programmes, and our events. From time to time, we may include information about our fundraising activities and how you can get involved. Please let us know if you are happy for us to contact you about our work.
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OUR WORK IN COASTAL TOWNS AND CITIES

Our 2021-2022 tree planting initiative Forgotten Places: Greening Coastal Towns and Cities saw a green revolution in Bexhill, Brighton, Great Yarmouth, Hull, Portsmouth, Ramsgate and Stockton-On-Tees.

In total, over 55,000 trees were planted across 83 locations in these 7 seaside areas and were delivered through community tree planting events that engaged local communities with nature and inspired a new generation to plant, protect and promote urban trees.

In the first phase of this campaign, we have seen the huge impact that greening coastal towns and cities has on local communities. People were able to come together for community planting days, talk to their local council about tree planting, learn tree-related skills through upskilling opportunities, and of course, learn how to plant urban trees!

By investing in the coastal green economy, we are providing communities with luscious green spaces for everyone to enjoy and equipping towns and cities with air-cleaning green machines for sustainable futures.

Check out our wrap-up video on one of the community planting days held in Bexhill, in December 2022. Watch our incredible Bexhill volunteers Breathe New Life into their coastal city!

Special thanks to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund for providing us with funding to increase tree cover in coastal cities and towns with lower-than-average tree canopy cover and high levels of socio-economic deprivation.

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