A colourful plan to mark jubilee at Berwick park

Children Cleb, Bailey, Rory, Lucas, Jake, George, Logan, Ella, Lucie and Josie, local police officers and Coun Catherine Seymour at the planting in Flagstaff Park.

Northumberland County Council, park volunteers, Girl Guides and Brownies worked together to plant almost 10,000 spring bulbs during the winter months, which are starting to sprout already.

More than 500 trees have also been planted throughout the town over the past year as part of the scheme, with the latest addition of apple and pear trees at Flagstaff Park planted by Holy Trinity First School’s Mini Police Force.

Coun Catherine Seymour, ward councillor for Berwick North, said: “We started celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee early so that Flagstaff Park can bloom all year. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm of the community to be involved in our planting scheme.

“We got the idea from the Queen’s Green Canopy campaign, which encourages everyone to plant a tree for the Jubilee this year. The Royal Horticultural Society judges for Northumbria in Bloom have supported us in this venture and once the flowers begin to bloom, they will be a fantastic attraction to the town.

“It was important that I was able to allocate around £2,000 of funding to the planting scheme from my capital schemes allowance.”

The Queen’s Green Canopy is a unique tree planting initiative that is inviting people from across the UK to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’ during the official planting season – between October and March.

Nicholas Shaw, headteacher at Holy Trinity First School, said: “Our Mini-police and indeed our whole school are always on the lookout for opportunities to help in the local community, and our children are also passionate about helping the environment.

“The tree planting in Flagstaff Park was a fantastic project that brought both of these elements together and we look forward to watching the trees grow – creating a beautiful, healthier and greener place for us all to enjoy.”

Northumberland County Council has given away 15,000 free trees to residents, community groups, schools and town and parish councils already this year.

Coun Glen Sanderson, leader of the county council, said: “Increasing tree coverage in our county is important to achieve Northumberland’s target to become carbon neutral by 2030.”