‘If you live out your life in the shared urban landscape, then you have a natural right to participate in shaping its future.’
— Charles Montgomery ‘Happy City’
OUR STORY
…from the humble acorn grows the mighty oak
Greening streets
Twelve years ago two Lewisham residents requested the replacement of a tree felled on their street. The council listened, and the rest, as they say, is treestory…
How it works
Community engagement
One of our ambitions is to change the face of community participation by thinking differently about the creative contribution that community brings to street tree planting. Our tree planting projects work because of the close working relationships we have with local authorities, as well as schools, residents and community groups, promoting and nurturing community interests and supporting volunteers in tree after-care.
Build partnerships and raise funds
We raise funds to enable street tree planting projects and liaise with councils and contractors on behalf of residents, schools and community groups. We do this by partnering with volunteer Street Reps, Ward Reps, Tree Guardians and Tree Champions to carry out initial planting surveys, provide information and flyers for canvassing, and by overseeing the management of the planting from start to finish.
Ensure tree survival
Our work has been recognised across the board; honoured with a London Tree and Woodlands Community Award in 2020, and receiving commendations in 2019, 2022 & 2023. Street Trees for Living has now successfully planted over 2,000 street trees. Our trees have a 96% survival rate beyond the 2nd year, higher than the UK national average.
The roots from which we grew
by Dom Eliot, Co-Founder
Street Trees for Living began life in 2011 as Brockley Society’s two-person “Tree Committee”. Its purpose was to draw attention to and make good the loss of trees in and around Brockley’s conservation area. For the next eight years Brockley Society generously incubated a burgeoning project. It lent financial support, oversight and charitable status to all the committee's work of raising awareness of tree-related issues in public and private space.
One of the “Tree Committee's" first and most inspired achievements was working with Lewisham Council to establish a public offer to residents of street tree planting at a fixed price. In its first year it planted four street trees. Now we plant around 500 street trees a year.
In 2017 the "Tree Committee" won a bid for £18,000 from the GLA and changed its name to Street Trees for Living to reflect its aims and achievement of planting across Lewisham. Until 2019 it had been run entirely by volunteers, and a lot of the work is still done this way. Street Trees for Living continues to rely more than anything on the ongoing partnership that it has nurtured and sustained between council and community.
Street Trees for Living is now an independent registered charity, no. 1185165.
‘Their results are extraordinary: in some boroughs, 30% of street trees die within the first few years of planting; in Lewisham it is 5%.’
— Rosie Kinchen, The Times