First of The Queen's Green Canopy three special trees planted with one set for Salisbury

Thursday, 3 November 2022 00:00

The first of three special trees from The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) Tree of Trees initiative has been presented by the Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire in Trowbridge at a special ceremony.

The Harnham Water Meadows Trust in Salisbury will also receive one of the three special trees and it will be presented later in the autumn.

The John of Gaunt School in Trowbridge has been presented with a Betula Pendula tree (weeping birch) which stood tall outside Buckingham Palace on a sculpture by the architect Thomas Heatherwick as a message of hope, regeneration and optimism to the nation and the world as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

This is one of three trees Wiltshire and Swindon will receive, and they join more than 300 organisations from across the UK who were recently announced by the QGC as recipients in The Queen's name, which are gifted in a pot embossed with Her late Majesty's cypher.

In addition to the John of Gaunt School, other Wiltshire recipients are the volunteers from Swindon's vaccination programme, and The Harnham Water Meadows Trust in Salisbury. Two further ceremonies will take place later this autumn that will see Mrs Sarah Troughton, Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, present them with their trees.

The trees honour Her Late Majesty, joining over a million trees already planted across the UK as part of The Queen's Green Canopy.

Mrs Troughton said: “I am incredibly proud to be part of this project to honour Her Late Majesty in our county. We have three very worthy recipients and I was delighted to present John of Gaunt School with their tree, and I know it will be well looked after and cherished for many years to come by the whole community.

“I look forward to the further planting ceremonies over the coming weeks and am moved by the thought of the lasting living legacy that is being created in Her late Majesty’s name in Wiltshire.”

Matthew Woodville, Headteacher of John of Gaunt School, said: “We are both proud and humbled that The John of Gaunt School was selected as one of the recipients of the three trees destined for Wiltshire. This tree will serve as a message of hope and optimism not only to our school, but to our local community of Trowbridge as it becomes part of the living legacy in honour of Her Majesty.”

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