Happy New Year!

Thank you to all our friends and supporters and everyone who helped us in 2021

Hedge-planting around the new community orchard

2021 ended on plenty of highs

We're a charity!

At last, we got confirmation from the Charity Commission that we are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) after waiting over a year because of the pandemic. This gives us charitable status and more opportunities. Look out everyone, we are here to stay!

Orchard and hedge planting in December

Hedges and Fruit Trees

We continued our project to cover Bermondsey in hedges for wildlife by planting another 2000 native species trees this year.

Thanks to The Conservation Trust’s #IDigTrees initiative, we were able to fill the gaps in the hedges we planted in previous years in Spa Gardens and Shuttleworth Parks.

We joined forces with the Rouel Blue Garden Club, Southwark Council’s tree officers, the Orchard Project, Rouel TRA, Southwark’s London National Park City rangers and St James’s Primary School to create a new community orchard on the Rouel Road Estate. Over two weekends in December a huge communal effort meant that 18 fruit trees were planted and 135 metres of fruiting hedgerow. Over the four days a total of 60 adults and children took part in creating the orchard.

Grow Back Greener

We also received the exciting news that we were successful in securing a grant from the London Mayor and Thames Water’s prestigious Grow Back Greener fund meaning that we can go full-steam ahead with our Octopus Garden project involving the depaving of the corner at Dunton Road and Lynton Road to create a new green space open to all.

400 bulbs for Shuttleworth Park

We ended the year by planting 400 bulbs in Shuttleworth Park which were kindly donated by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association’s Bulbs for London scheme. They include snowdrops, narcissi, tulips, bluebells and allium and we can’t wait to see them burst into flower in the Spring and they will bring much-welcome colour to The Blue.

What’s happening in 2022?

• We’re looking forward to starting the year with the completion of the Rouel Road Estate Community Orchard (six more trees to plant at the end of January and a couple of hundred fruiting tree whips to finish off the hedgerow).

• We’ll be sending out updates on the Octopus Garden and how you can get involved. If you want to join the Octopus Gardeners mail group, let us know by emailing us at treesforbermondsey@gmail.com

• 2022 marks the 100 year anniversary of Ada Salter becoming Mayor of Bermondsey and her husband, Dr Alfred Salter, becoming MP. Trees for Bermondsey will be supporting the Salter Centenary Project with tree-related events and projects throughout the year and beyond, so watch this space!

• 2022 is also the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy Initiative, we’ll be sharing the occasion with the Southwark Park Association 1869 in planting a specially dedicated Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in the park, kindly provided by Southwark Council. Details and dates to follow.

Special thanks to:

London Mayor

Thames Water

FM Conway

Southwark Council

The Blue BID

TCV

The Orchard Project

LNPC Rangers

MPGA

Taylors Bulbs

Crol & Co

And to everyone who supports and works with us (you know who you are)