On a sunny but chilly December morning, staff from Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and Sandwell Valley donned their gardening gear and got stuck into planting 50 trees.
As part of Climate Week in March 2012, staff, patients and visitors had kindly donated their old mobile phones. For each of the 72 mobile phones that was donated, the trust was given one tree to plant by the NHS Forest.
Some of these trees have been planted at the trust; however, due to a lack of space and the plans to move to a new hospital site, the remaining 50 trees were planted at Sandwell Valley (Sot’s Hole) for staff, patients and visitors to enjoy whilst out walking. The tree species that were planted were native black poplar, English oak and silver birch.
Fran Silcocks, the trust’s sustainability officer, said: “The trust is proud to be able to donate 50 trees to Sandwell Valley as part of our ongoing sustainability and good corporate citizenship work. As the Sot’s Hole area of Sandwell Valley is located close to Sandwell Hospital, the trees will enhance the natural environment for our staff, patients, visitors and the wider community. A big thanks to all of those that donated their old mobile phones and to the helpers on the day.”
Sandwell Valley is delighted with the new additions and it is hoped that the trees, currently in their early sapling stage, will develop and flourish in Sot’s Hole.
At Sandwell, there is some allotment space where patients and the onsite nursery can get involved in up keeping. They also have a section of land that has been left in a natural meadow state to encourage biodiversity with benches for staff and patients to enjoy.
