This year, Trees for Cities planted its two millionth tree. When you look back at where our charity began, that feels pretty extraordinary.

We started life in 1993 as Trees for London. It was founded by a small group of friends – Jake Kempston, Julian Blake, Jane Bruton and Belinda Winder – who believed that cities should have more trees and that anyone should have the opportunity to plant them.

Back then, it was very much a grassroots movement. We raised money in wonderfully chaotic ways. There were Tree-Athlons, fundraising events and – fondly remembered by many – the legendary Trees parties.

Bringing people together

The idea was beautifully simple: bring people together, raise money and plant trees in cities. And the idea took hold. Over the last 33 years, our organisation has grown enormously. Today, Trees for Cities is a national charity with nearly 50 staff and a turnover of around £5 million.

I joined the charity in 2004 as a new mum, struck by the beautiful blend of positive social action and tangible environmental improvement, right on people’s doorsteps. I’ve had the privilege of watching – and being part of – Trees for Cities’ evolution and was honoured to become CEO three years ago. And I’m incredibly proud of what the team has achieved.

Across more than three decades, we’ve engaged over 250,000 people to help plant those two million trees across 100 towns and cities – primarily in the UK, but also in a few cities overseas.

We’ve created community orchards, edible playgrounds, urban woodlands and tree-lined streets. But what matters most is where we choose to work.

We target our projects towards deprived urban neighbourhoods where tree cover is low. The inequality is stark. In cities, the sad truth is that most trees grow in more affluent areas. Meanwhile, children growing up in under-served communities often don’t have gardens to play in, trees to climb or meaningful access to nature.

There’s often very little shade, very little green space, very little opportunity to experience the calm that nature can bring in the midst of a stressful urban environment.

Increasingly, that matters not just for wellbeing but for public health. As our cities become hotter and more polluted, trees are ever-more essential green infrastructure. They cool streets, they improve air quality and they support biodiversity. And they help protect vulnerable communities from extreme summer heat.

That’s why urban tree planting has become so urgent.

Climate change makes tree survival harder

But one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned over the years is that planting trees is actually the easy part. The real challenge is helping them survive. There’s absolutely no point planting trees unless they establish and thrive.

Those first few years after planting are critical. That’s when young trees either put down roots – or die. And climate change is making that challenge much harder. Over the past few years, we’ve experienced some of the hottest and driest summers on record.

As a result, we’ve had to dramatically increase the amount of aftercare we provide. More watering, more maintenance. More mulch (which my team affectionately calls ‘brown gold’ because it’s so valuable for helping trees retain moisture.

The good news is that our establishment rates are still incredibly strong. More than 97% of the larger standard trees we plant survive, which is something we’re really proud of.

But smaller trees are increasingly struggling to establish. They need much more care and far more frequent watering than they did even a few years ago. And while lots of people genuinely want to help water trees, we can’t rely entirely on volunteers to provide the consistent care every single tree needs.

That creates real operational and financial challenges. Tree planting is often seen as a simple, low-cost climate solution. But maintaining healthy urban trees in a rapidly changing climate is becoming increasingly complex and resource intensive.

Our impact challenge

That’s why we’re now exploring new approaches and technologies that can help us care for trees more effectively. Impact Unlimited, supporting us as its founding charity partner, is going to help us to explore solutions around green tech that can help with this very real operational challenge.

Because ultimately, this isn’t just about planting more trees. It’s about creating cities where trees are properly valued, protected and cared for.

We’ve just launched our new strategy, called Make Trees Matter!

The idea behind it is simple. We know trees matter – most people instinctively understand that. But trees still don’t consistently matter enough to the people and institutions with the power and funding to protect them long-term.

So the goal is to help more people connect personally with urban trees – in their streets, schools, estates and neighbourhoods. We want to grow a movement for urban trees and tree equity. Because when people feel ownership over trees, they protect them. And when communities care for trees, cities become healthier, cooler and more resilient.

Ultimately, this is about future generations. It’s about making sure that our children and grandchildren can grow up climbing trees, connecting with nature and breathing cleaner air. That’s the future we’re trying to help create. Why not join our movement?