The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is an ambitious tree planting project created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. The project invited people from across the UK to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”. Read more about the national project.

Jayne Gibson-Harris, a member of the Brill Environment Group (BEG) and Chair of the Brill Climate Action Group (BCAG) is leading on this project in Brill, with the support of the Parish Council. Earlier this year, Jayne worked with others to map existing tree cover in Brill and suggest sites for the planting of the 70 Jubilee trees. She and Cllr Emi Slater consulted widely with community groups and individuals, online and face-to-face. Most of the cost of the trees will be met by BEG and Woodland Trust funds.

update From Jayne (posted dec 16)

The Jubilee Trees from the Woodland Trust arrived in November and the first planting session took place during National Tree Week; November 26th to December 4th.

Pupils of Brill School planted 30 tree saplings on the playing fields. The trees we planted were a mix of Silver Birch, Wild Cherry and Rowan trees. The school’s Eco Council, led by Mrs Keeping, planted the first five trees near the new playground. During the following week, each class went out onto the field to plant a batch of trees, until all 30 trees were planted. Then, on Sunday December 4th, Brill Scouts and members of BEG, BCAG and The Walks Group joined forces to plant a row of hawthorn hedging, a further 30 saplings of Silver Birch and Rowan and a small copse of Hazel in The Walks.

All the trees came free from the Woodland Trust, a gift to Brill as part of the 70 Trees for the Jubilee project first proposed by BEG. We have a few more trees to plant, including a couple down The Firs and some more hedging in The Walks. Thanks to a generous sponsor, we also have a few larger trees to plant near the children’s playgrounds. Our next planting session will be Saturday January 14th. We need some strong volunteers for this session, so please get in touch if you can help.

When all the trees have been planted, the sites will be recorded on the Queen’s Green Canopy map in commemoration of our late Queen.

A big thank you to everyone who has been involved in this wonderful community event. Watch this space for our next project, Oaks of Hope!