Ready. Steady. Grow. I Dig Trees 2017/18. Growing a greener Britain for future generations

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1 Ready. Steady. Grow I Dig Trees 2017/18 Growing a greener Britain for future generations

2 Ready Planning where to create green spaces Not all of the trees that we plant each year are to be found in the countryside. Far from it. The city is home to thousands of them. Given the increasing urbanisation of society, it s more important than ever that we continue this work. Urban planting doesn t just look nicer a single tree can produce enough oxygen for a family of four for an entire year 1, while removing one tonne of CO2 from the atmosphere over its average lifetime 2. So planting trees improves the local environment and can even benefit our health. Greener spaces also give nature a much-needed home. Leeds University found that interconnected green spaces composed of native trees and shrub species, with less intensive management, offer the greatest benefits for wildlife. 1Source: 2Source: goo.gl/6qksuj I Dig Trees isn t some corporate tree-planting scheme held in a far away place. It s making a real difference where you live in your cities, schools and parks. It brings communities together, improves the environment and makes a difference for future generations. OVO Energy created I Dig Trees in partnership with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) in Since its launch, it s encouraged schools, community groups, charities, stakeholders and even OVO staff and customers to volunteer 160,000 hours of their time and energy to plant 568,000 trees in 1,600 spaces right across the UK. We couldn t have been happier with I Dig Trees first year, as 158,000 saplings are now finding their roots in a green space near you. But this year has been even more incredible! Thanks to our Greener Energy/Green Energy add-on customers and everyone who got their hands dirty, 160,000 1 new trees are now breathing life into Britain this year. 1 Only UK provenance trees used

3 Steady Planting 160,000 trees We had five trees to plant for every Greener Energy/Green Energy add-on customer! Since I Dig Trees is one of the UK s largest planting initiatives, we then needed all hands on deck and that s where our partnership with TCV came in. They rallied an incredible workforce of volunteers who selflessly gave their time and muscles to get those saplings in the ground. Our planting plan We needed to start digging during the bare root season, which runs from November to March, to give our trees the best chance of survival. So we got to work... Distributing and planting 160,000 native UK trees Engaging community groups around the UK Encouraging volunteers to get involved in local community planting Making significant, long-term positive impact on CO2 savings Connecting with community groups across the country A pack for every patch We created a range of packs to suit different spaces. Thank you very much for the trees which have been planted in the Barbican Wildlife Garden in the heart of the City of London to help thicken up a native species hedge. Barbican Thanks to OVO Energy and their sponsorship of I Dig Trees Myplace (Skelmersdale) had a great tree planting taster day, with hopefully many more trees planted this season. Myplace volunteer coordinator We had a great day out tree planting in our woods on Saturday. Whilst we got the trees planted the children helped at times, but also really enjoyed playing in our woodlands, using their imaginations and jumping and making bridges over the stream. Friends of Basingbourne Park PARKLAND LARGE GARDEN SMALL GARDEN WILDLIFE & SHRUBS Silver Birch Common Alder Field Maple Common Hornbeam Downy Birch Common Crab Dogwood Green Beech Rowan Apple Hawthorn English Oak Wild Cherry Bird Cherry Blackthorn Small Leaved Lime Norway Maple Grey Willow Goat Willow Rowan Guelder Rose

4 Grow Planting for the future What a difference a few months can make...during the bare root season, we planted 160,000 trees up and down Britain. That s enough to cover 300 full-sized football fields! Northern Ireland 600 Scotland 24,300 North 16,900 North 1,450 Yorkshire 32,600 We dug deep to make a difference Wales 16,350 Midlands 5,350 5,050 London 8,150 Anglia 5, ,000 planted across the UK 1 groups joined in trees distributed and different community 427 different sites were planted 80,000 7,259 43,554 tones of CO2 saved 2 volunteers took part 3 of volunteer hours 870,400 sq metres covered by newly planted trees 3,200 packs of mixed variety trees South 15,200 South 28,550 Our tree planting went very well today. We had a good turnout and lots of morning sunshine. Thank you for the chance to plant so many lovely trees. Southwest Community Woodland 1 Only UK provenance trees used 2 Assumes 50% survival rate and 1 tonne of CO2 over lifetime of tree. 3 Assumes 17 volunteers per site likely to be higher given school/community planting. 4 Assumes 6 hours per day for each volunteer.

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