Back in January this year, we made a proposal to Hedge End Town Council explaining that we would like to plant a tree as part of our process of becoming an ECO friendly Church. We do not have space on our own land. Therefore we wanted to plant on the recreation ground opposite our Church. This we achieved on Tuesday 6th December 2022.
We had three reasons for wishing to do this.
Noting that the Queen’s Green Canopy project was encouraging individuals and groups to plant trees, the Hedge End Methodist Church wanted to get involved.
It is also one aspect of our engagement in the ECO-friendly church campaign run by the international environmental group ARocha.org. We have recently gained a Silver Award under this scheme.
In addition, as President (2016-2022) of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, whose logo is the Tree of Life, I was encouraging women around the world to plant trees in their locality. I wanted like to lead by example.
We have been very grateful to Brett Athow, Operations Manager at Hedge End Town Council for his assistance in sourcing this Wild Service Tree (from Hillier Nurseries, Ampfield near Romsey) and organising its planting. Also known as SORBUS TORMINALIS, this deciduous tree is native to the UK but now not as common as it used to be. It can grow to heights of 15 metres (50ft). The glossy leaves, similar to those of a maple, turn from mid-green to glorious russets and reds in the autumn.
So members of Hedge End Methodist Church have great pleasure in donating this tree for the enjoyment of the whole community and thank Hedge End Town Council for caring for it.
Thanks to Rev Anthony Parkinson who took the photos for us.