One week ago I arrived in Lincoln with eight fellow riders after completing a 180-mile cycle from London to celebrate the launch of the new Charter for Trees, Woods & People.
When I first suggested the idea of cycling between the two historic English cities to fellow trustees of charity Fund4Trees, I thought the idea of a long winter ride may be met with derision. Far from it! It was met immediately with enthusiasm and we had no problem recruiting a few additional riders including cycling journalist and woodsman Rob Penn, two riders from the Woodland Trust, and one from the Arboricultural Association.
We achieved more than cycling 180 miles during a blustery November. En route we visited two schools, a National Trust property (Belton House), and a local branch of the Tree Charter – to plant trees with young people and communities.
It was fun, yet cold, appearing on the BBC Breakfast programme at dawn on the Charter Day, 6th November. Even the Daily Express thought our rumbustious bonhomie was worth reporting about next day.
I recorded a short film each day of the Charter Ride. Watch these and find out more about the work of the dynamic small charity Fund4Trees.
“Natural treasures, in roots, wood and leaves, for beauty, for use, the air that we breathe. Imagine: a wood starts with one small seed. We’re stronger together – people and trees.”
Opening of the Charter for Trees, Woods and People by Harriet Fraser.
The launch of the new Charter for Trees, Woods and People is just the end of the first chapter. Hopefully it is the beginning of a new movement for society to stand up for trees.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
