In the year 2020, Leeds had a total of 8690 babies born including stillbirths.
Baby Week Leeds has joined up with the Leeds City Council’s Woodland Creation initiative and had the ambition of planting a tree for every baby born in Leeds in 2020. Due to the pandemic, we still have a few trees to plant this winter! During a year of challenges, the global pandemic and a difficult time for expecting / new parents. Baby Week wanted to mark the foundations and plant roots for a greener future for the babies born. In 2019, We worked with our ambassadors to plant a tree for every baby born in Baby Week.
White Rose Shopping Centre marked the fourth Baby Week Leeds with a very special ceremony – the planting of one tree for every baby born in Leeds during Baby Week. White Rose with Nurture Landscapes helped us to plant the 187 trees on its South Leeds site in honour of Baby Week Leeds, the initiative launched with partners from all sectors including Leeds City Council, Child Friendly Leeds, and NHS Leeds.
Child Friendly Leeds had the idea to get schools involved and wanted to ensure we work together as a city to tackle climate change. A few thousand trees were planted in local schools and green land as part of this ambition. We followed it by planting a brand new woodland (Baby Week Forest) off the Old Otley Rd, in Weetwood. The proposed site holds approx. 2000 new saplings.
We wanted it to be a a fun activity but due to lockdown, we were unable to plant. Planting the new forest will count towards the White Rose Forest, Northern Forest Projects and the Woodland Creation Initiative, and follows the inspiration of other Baby Weeks happening globally and supports our sustainable agenda.
Planting trees is a great way of sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, promoting sustainable habitats and biodiversity, absorbing road pollutants, reducing flooding risk and improving our mental wellbeing. Recognising the threat posed by Climate Change to our children and their development, Baby Week Leeds is keen to support the Woodland Creation Initiative’s goal of planting 5.8 million new trees in Leeds over the next 25 years. With this in mind, we are calling on any volunteers interested in making a real positive impact for the children being born today, to come and help us plant the remaining trees or get involved in Leeds City Councils tree planting initiatives.
Particularly, we would like to encourage new and expectant couples to come and plant trees. We think that this is both an excellent way to celebrate the birth of a new child, and a very tangible investment in the future health and wellbeing of all Leeds children. However, all volunteers are welcome and we can do with any help that we can get for this ambitious project.
More details to follow.
