23rd Mar, 2017

Tree Planting Marks NHS Sustainability Day at the NNUH

Staff from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are coming together to celebrate NHS Sustainability Day through the planting of new trees in the grounds of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.  The NNUH will be joining other NHS organisations across the country in all kinds of projects and activities which celebrate good environmental practice in our health service.

This particular piece of tree planting is part of a wider conservation-based programme at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH Trust) which also includes a popular woodland walk around the NNUH site.

Richard Parker, Chief Operating Officer at the NNUH said:  “At the NNUH we are very aware of the vital importance of green spaces to people’s health.  A healthy tree population at our hospital plays a vital role in promoting green spaces for our patients, visitors and staff to enjoy long into the future.”

Emma Jarvis, Environmental Arts Manager at the NNUH, said: “Tree planting and the care of our tree stock is a vital part of our work to improve the environment.  The trees that are being planted are native species, and vital supporters of the ecosystem, sustaining and supporting local wildlife and bee populations.”

The tree planting programme forms part of a national campaign led by NHS Forest as part of NHS Sustainability Day.  Staff will plant eight trees in order to mark the Trust’s support for environmental sustainability.

The trees planted in Norwich are funded through a sponsorship arrangement between NHS Forest and The Great Outdoor Gym Company (TGO). Georgie Delaney, Managing Director at TGO, said “We are delighted to sponsor this initiative, and a tree is planted for every piece of gym equipment we install. As a company we are passionate in promoting sustainable health care and the positive effects that exercising outdoors has on our physical, emotional and mental well-being. Our gyms are designed & produced in the UK, are free to use, inclusive for wheelchair users and meet the very strictest of safety standards ensuring they are safe for all ages and abilities. The tree planting forms part of our strategy towards being the greenest, safest & strongest provider of outdoor equipment in the world”

Trees Planted Today:

Crataegus laevigata - 'Paul's Scarlet' - hybrid species of Hawthorn:

Morus nigra - standard - known as Black Mulberry or Blackberry:

Gingko blioba - standard - known as the Gingko or Maidenhair Tree:

Gleditsia triacanthos 'intermis' standard - thornless form of Honey Locust:

Cercis silaquastrum -  known as the Judas Tree:

Liriodendron tulipfera - known as the Tulip Tree:

Sorbus Sheerwater Seedling:

ENDS (See over for further information)

Notes to Editors

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare is a registered charity no. 1143189. Its objective is to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of healthcare through the application of research, through working directly within clinical specialities, and through advancing the positive health effects of green spaces.

The NHS Forest is a partnership programme managed and led by CSH, which seeks to green the NHS estate by planting one tree per employee of the NHS, on NHS estates.

Further information

Ben Williams, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, 07792702064, ben.williams@sustainablehealthcare.org.uk