Essex Guides help tree planting efforts at St Osyth Priory Estate

Essex Guides help tree planting efforts at St Osyth Priory Estate

On Saturday 5th March, members of three Essex Girlguiding troupes donned their wellington boots to help plant new trees at St Osyth Priory Estate near Colchester.

The new woodland at the historic Estate surrounds a collection of new homes being constructed by award-winning heritage developer City & Country.

Led by Faye Barson, a member of the St Osyth Priory Estate team, 15 girls aged 7-13 from Kirby Brownies, Thorpe Guides and Frinton Guides, along with their families, volunteered to plant 15 trees along the private circular walk at St Osyth Priory. The group learned about the importance of matching trees to correct soil types and how to ensure the tree shoots are correctly embedded for their roots to take hold.

In celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee year throughout 2022, the tree planting is part of the Woodland Trust’s partnership with The Queen’s Green Canopy, which sees thousands of new trees planted to form a network of individual trees, avenues, and whole woodlands in honour of The Queen’s service and the legacy she has built.

Faye Barson said: “St Osyth Priory is a beautiful, rural Estate home to a great variety of flora and fauna. As part of our landscaping plans, we’ll be planting 6,400 new trees, so it was our pleasure to have so many extra pairs of hands help us with this latest tree planting effort, which will be standing for years to come and make a lasting impact for generations.”

Lisa Staras, Tendring Guides Commissioner, added: “It was a great opportunity for some of the girls and leaders to get involved with the woodland project, planting trees at St Osyth’s Priory Estate. It is important for the girl’s mindfulness to be outside and especially learn about the process of planting trees, during the Queen’s Green Canopy project. It will definitely be something for everyone involved to remember.”

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