An annual festival to celebrate the street trees of Sheffield is underway this week to highlight the “enormous value” they bring to the UK’s greenest city.
From forest bathing and haiku writing, to tree planting and family fun days, over a dozen free events have been taking place as part of the Urban Tree Festival, which runs until December 1.
Nik Baker, manager of the Sheffield Street Tree Partnership which has organised the event, said she hopes the diverse range of activities will raise awareness of the benefits urban trees have in reducing pollution and boosting mental health.
She said: “As humans, it can increase stress levels when we’re just surrounded by concrete without any contact with nature. In terms of the health benefits that street trees can provide people, they have an enormous value to us as a society.”
Up to 500 people are expected to attend events for the festival across the week.
The packed programme included a guided walk by Paul Selby from Nether Edge and Sharrow Sustainable Transformation, who raised over £200,000 to install 301 new street trees in the community over four years.
Sharon Farley, 55, who lives on Bramall Lane, attended the walk. She said: “Coming out and doing this as a community activity has been really wonderful. It’s great to find out things about the area that I live in and meet some really lovely and dedicated people.”
Among the events still to take place this weekend is an urban tree sketching workshop in the city centre, led by Meersbrook-based artist Mikk Murray.
Mr Murray, whose artwork is based around ancient woodlands and trees, explained he wanted to host the workshop in the heart of the city to show people that nature is all around us.
He said: “When we’re walking through the city centre, we’re distracted by too many other things. There’s adverts and shops. I don’t think we often notice that we have trees and pockets of nature and wildlife.
“When people come to my drawing workshops, I want them to connect to the urban trees and the environment so that they then start thinking about it more and want to change other things in their lives.”
The Sheffield Street Tree Partnership is a coalition of organisations set up in 2019 in the wake of protests to stop the felling of thousands of trees across Sheffield.
So far they have recruited 30 volunteer street tree wardens to monitor the health of trees in the city, and hope that the festival will encourage more people to sign up.
A full list of events scheduled to take place over the weekend can be found here.
