A team of 22 volunteers from Sodexo, a food and FM services provider, joined forces with Wakefield Council this week to plant 1,287 trees in an area of green land by Raglan Close playing fields in Castleford.
The team, who all live or work in the Yorkshire area, were pleased to join the Council’s tree and woodland team to plant native trees including willow, alder and oak. The willow trees will help reduce the water table in an area of land which has flooded in recent years.
Tom McNamara who works for Sodexo’s Property Professional Services team said: “I live in Wakefield and wanted to make a difference in my local community. After discussing the idea with the Council and then my work colleagues, it was full steam ahead.
“It was great for us all to get out and do something really positive for the local area. Special thanks to Travis Perkins for providing protective gloves for all our volunteers and to Castleford Panthers Rugby Club for letting us use the clubhouse during the day for breaks and shelter.”
Cllr Jack Hemingway, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “Thank you to the team from Sodexo for their hard work. Volunteers are really important in helping us reach our tree planting targets, so I’m especially grateful that the team have said they’ll come back next planting season.”
The trees planted this week make up nearly 50,000 trees planted by Wakefield Council and volunteers over the last year, which forms part of the White Rose Forest Action Plan to plant seven million trees, the equivalent of 4,900 football pitches or 2,500 hectares in North and West Yorkshire between 2021 and 2025.
Sodexo provides a wide range of services to organisations in both the public and private sector across the UK and Ireland and is committed to supporting local communities. Every year its 29,000 employees are able to take three days to help volunteer at community projects such as this.
Image credit: Sodexo
