Volunteers plant around 600 trees at Gransha Hospital
Volunteers from Northern Ireland Electricity and The Conservation Volunteers pulled on their wellies and joined Oakgrove Integrated College to help plant around 600 native trees in the grounds Gransha Hospital in Derry.
A wide selection of native trees were planted including hazel, birch, alder, willow, blackthorn, cherry and Scots pine.
The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) organised the planting as part of an ongoing scheme, sponsored by Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), which will enable the planting of over 2,000 native trees at five sites across Northern Ireland.
Barbara Boardman, Director of TCV said, “This is an excellent project and a great way to involve local people in improving the environment. We are delighted to be once again working with NIE and we’re very lucky to have some help from pupils at nearby Oakgrove Integrated College. It’s great that they are so eager to get stuck in and get their hands dirty.”
Sean Mallon, Vegetation Manager at NIE, is pleased the company is involved in helping stimulate new tree growth, well away from the electricity network! Sean says, “Supporting community projects has always been part of NIE’s ethos, and I’m delighted that our local tree maintenance teams are lending a hand to plant trees this week.
“In our line of work safety always comes first and during the year we ensure thousand of kilometres of overhead electricity network are clear of any vegetation growing beside it. It’s great to see so many new native trees being planted, helping replace those cut back because of our overhead line refurbishment and vegetation management programmes. We also welcome the involvement of young people in these planting projects, encouraging them to learn more about things we sometimes take for granted, the electricity we use and the environment around us.”
The project continues the longstanding partnership between NIE and TCV and planting will take place at other sites across Northern Ireland during tree planting season.