- Project is celebrated at Royal tree planting ceremony at Sandringham with Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Princess Royal
- Sainsbury’s commits to raising £1.5 million to plant at least one million trees
- Woodland Trust to create ‘Sainsbury’s Wood’ at flagship site in Leicestershire
Sainsbury's has been confirmed as the lead corporate sponsor for the Woodland Trust's Jubilee Woods Project, which aims to plant six million native British trees to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
The announcement was made as Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Princess Royal planted trees at the new 20 acre Jubilee Wood on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to celebrate the project. Sainsbury's Chief Executive Justin King attended to mark the retailer's role as lead corporate sponsor and to discuss details of the partnership with delegates.
Over the next fifteen months, Sainsbury's will be supporting the project and raising £1.5 million for tree planting by:
- Increasing the number of donations made from products in store. Sainsbury's already donates 1p from every dozen Woodland eggs sold, 2p from Woodland chicken and 10p from Woodland turkeys to the Woodland Trust. This will extend to other products including cereals and everyday household items
- Giving customers the opportunity to make a 'pledge' in store to plant a tree to mark the Diamond Jubilee
- Promoting activity through the retailer's Active Kids scheme, to encourage schools to plant trees
Sainsbury's Chief Executive Justin King, said: "This fantastic project gives our customers and colleagues a great opportunity to get involved in planting a tree during one of the most exciting years in recent history. We've already helped plant over 825,000 trees since 2004 thanks to donations from sales of our Woodland eggs and chicken, and this project will see even more donations from products, support through our stores and the Active Kids scheme. We've got ambitious plans to plant two million trees by 2015, as set out in our 20 by 20 Sustainability Plan, so this project is integral to this commitment, our wider values and we're proud to provide our support."
The Woodland Trust also plan to create a 'Sainsbury's Wood', within its flagship 460 acre Diamond Wood in Leicestershire. In total there will be 60 Diamond woods each of at least 60 acres in size created across the UK. Trees will be planted here to mark the support of Sainsbury's customers and colleagues and it will be open for everyone to enjoy in future years. For more information about Sainsbury's tree planting commitments in the 20 by 20 Sustainability plan, visit: Sainsbury's 20 by 20 Sustainability Plan.
Woodland Trust's Chief Executive Sue Holden said: "The Woodland Trust and Sainsbury's have a longstanding and fruitful partnership and I am therefore delighted to welcome Sainsbury's on board as the lead sponsor for our Jubilee Woods Project. A project which will suitably commemorate HM The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and provide a fitting legacy for generations to come, providing recreation, cleaner air and vital habitat for wildlife."
Sainsbury's relationship with the Woodland Trust started in 2004 when Sainsbury's own label Woodland Eggs were launched, followed by chickens and turkeys. Sainsbury's sell 280 million Woodland eggs each year, 4.9 million Woodland chickens and over Christmas alone sold over 117,000 Woodland turkeys.
Donations from sales of these products have helped plant over 825,000 native trees, 750,000 of which have been through the Active Kids programme which has involved over 750,000 children planting saplings on school grounds and in the local community. Native British tree varieties have also been planted on Sainsbury's farms to reflect ancient woodland, from orchards to dairy and poultry farms. More trees on Woodland chicken farms alone have improved the lives of 1.3 million chickens, giving them more space to roam and display natural behaviour.
Support from Sainsbury's will help the Woodland Trust distribute free community tree packs containing 105 or 420 native tree species, these packs come in four themes, each containing a 'Royal Oak' sapling grown from acorns collected on Royal estates. They will also be issuing free packs containing 60 hedge or copse tree species, each containing a 'royal oak' sapling grown from acorns collected on Royal estates.
There are many environmental benefits from tree-planting. Trees reduce carbon emissions, support biodiversity and have great social impacts - giving us a great place to enjoy nature, relax and share.
For more information on how schools can get involved through the Sainsbury's Active Kids, visit: Active Kids
Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the UK's leading charity championing native woods and trees. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has aims to create more native woods and places rich in trees, to protect native woods and to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees. Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.
Jubilee Woods project www.jubileewoods.org.uk
The Woodland Trust is offering people the chance to be at the heart of the Queen's 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations, by planting trees for The Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The project aims to plant six million trees to celebrate The Queen's reign and involve millions of people. The Woodland Trust has thousands of free Jubilee Tree packs available for communities and schools across the UK. For individuals there is a special range of individual Jubilee trees for gardens or pots available online.
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