A total of 495 schools and community groups in Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Oxfordshire took delivery of their trees from the end of February to 11 March, with the next round of applications back open for business on 4 April.

In the south, 42,645 trees were sent out to 275 organisations. This included 12,180 trees to 77 organisations in Dorset, 14,985 trees to 92 organisations in Hampshire and a further 1,920 trees to 13 organisations in the Isle of Wight.

The figures for the south of England were part of a record-breaking spring UK-wide giveaway. Woodland Trust senior project lead Vicki Baddeley said surpassing the previous spring delivery record by just over 106,000 for a total of 623,910 trees was “wonderful”.

“We strongly believe everyone should have the opportunity to plant a tree, and our spring planters are really showing us how it’s done,” she added. “We’re seeing such a wide range of motivations for communities to take the simple, positive action to plant trees. They’re getting their hands dirty to combat climate change, support local wildlife, green up their local spaces, boost their wellbeing, and celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee to name but a few.”

The trees were sent out as part of the Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback where the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity encourages people to plant trees at events, at home and with their school or community to help fight climate change and create new havens for wildlife.

A total of 3,865 schools and community groups received packs and will be joining the fight by sharing their tree planting stories and photos with us on social media using #BigClimateFightback.

Tree packs have been generously funded by lead partners: Sainsbury’s, Lloyds Bank, OVO Energy, DFS, Joules, Bank of Scotland and Sofology.

Baddeley added: “We couldn’t do this without the generosity of our funders so our thanks go out to each of them for their vital support. We would advise any interested groups to apply sooner rather than later to secure their saplings.”

“The appetite to plant trees is clearly growing as demand for our free trees scheme has never been stronger, so we can’t wait to open applications again on 4 April, when we’ll have a further 700,000 trees available for planting in the autumn.”

Free trees for schools and communities
The Woodland Trust is giving away hundreds of thousands of trees to schools and communities to make sure everybody in the UK has the chance to plant a tree. To apply, or see terms and conditions, visit: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/freetrees