a tree-mendously special day

What a special day we enjoyed on Friday for our official tree planting ceremony to celebrate the Queen's Green Canopy.

The sun shone as we welcomed the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux, to present the tree as a thank you for space2grow's contribution to the local community.

We are thrilled and proud to be one of only around 300 organisations from across the UK to receive a tree, gifted in the Queen's name. This young hazel is a thank you to all our volunteers and supporters who work so hard to make our acre of wild garden such a special place, and we were delighted that so many of you were able to join us.

After a short silence to remember the late Queen Elizabeth II, The Lord-Lieutenant read a special letter from Her Majesty. The message was sent to all recipients of trees from the "Tree of Trees" sculpture which stood outside Buckingham Palace during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Photo credit: Surrey Lieutenancy Office/Andy Newbold

The Lord-Lieutenant and the Mayor of Farnham, Councillor Alan Earwaker, had plenty of helping hands from our visitors from Potter's Gate Primary School and Farnham Heath End School.

After the tree planting and a lot of hand shaking, everyone enjoyed a cup of tea and refreshments in the sun.

Smiles all around, and lots of attention for our four-legged friends in the garden!

Our group from Farnham Heath End School were excited to show the beginnings of their recycled bottle greenhouse to the Lord-Lieutenant, the Mayor and Councillor Pat Evans.

And our friends from FADEG (Farnham Art and Design Education Group) set up a special exhibition of tree-themed artwork inspired by our pollarded willows.

Thank you to all our guests and helpers who joined us on Friday and made it such a memorable occasion. We hope that you will be inspired to keep planting trees in our community and be part of the living legacy in honour of Her Majesty.

we couldn't have done it without you

A big thank you goes to everyone who worked so hard over the last few weeks to prepare the garden for the big day.

Photo credit: Ben & Chris. More of Ben's pictures can be seen on Instagram @photosbybbs

And thank you to all our bakers and donators of sweet and savoury refreshments for the event. It was lovely to see everyone enjoying the spread, including Frank!

Finally, thanks go to the Farnham in Bloom team for lending us their shiniest spades for the planting.

reflections from the acre ...

This week, we are sharing the very special letter we received from Her Majesty The Queen about our lovely Jubilee tree ...

"As the planting season draws to a close, I send my sincere thanks to everyone across the country who has planted a tree to celebrate my Platinum Jubilee. I am deeply touched that so many community groups, schools, families and individuals have made their own unique contributions to the Green Canopy initiative."

"I hope your Jubilee trees flourish and grow for many years to come, for future generations to enjoy."

Elizabeth R.
31 March, 2022.

Photo credit: The Queen’s Green Canopy