GIGGLESWICK students marked National Gardening Week by planting over 100 trees at school.

In total, eight students from Giggleswick’s Service at School volunteering programme spent the afternoon planting trees donated by the Woodland Trust, a charity whose aim is to plant woods and trees to combat climate change and build a greener future for the UK.

As part of their work the charity has given away hundreds of thousands of trees to schools and communities which will create a living legacy for future generations to enjoy and appreciate, as well as help address climate change.

Giggleswick has a long history of serving the local community and in recent years the Service at School programme has placed pupils in a variety of local charities and organisations to provide support in a wide range of settings.

Students planted over 100 native trees, including silver birch, wild cherry, hawthorn, rowan, blackthorn, hazel, and common oak. These species of trees were specifically chosen as they will grow to provide both habitat and food for a wide range of native birds and animals.

Planting trees not only benefits wildlife, but a fully grown tree can absorb around 20 kilograms of CO2 per year meaning that over its lifetime a mature tree can absorb over one tonne of CO2.

Giggleswick headmaster, Mark Turnbull, said: “Giggleswick has a long-established relationship with the Woodland Trust, having worked together to plant over 5,000 trees on campus in recent years.

“We encourage pupils at Giggleswick to participate in a balanced programme of creative, active, and service activities as part of our co-curricular provision.

“Our ambition is to instil in our pupils the importance of service to the wider community and respect for the environment.”

The Chaplain, Reverend Alex Ladds, said “It was marvellous to see the students working together and planting these trees and to hear them discussing plans to come back and visit ‘their wood’ in the future to see how it will grow.”