Free monthly urban forest volunteer training covered pests and diseases this month, in Handsworth Park with Tonia Clark. This wonderful morning session in the park, Saturday 16th November, saw the volunteers learning the risks to trees that come with illness and creepy crawlies, just like us humans. Fungi is ever-present, but what is that pattern in the bark?
Thank you to the volunteers who attended and to Tonia for the interesting session, we hope to see you all there at the next training on 21st December, for a special Christmas workshop!
Our trees for National Tree Week and beyond arrived at the Bromford depot on Tuesday 12th November, where our keen BTP team was bright and early to receive the trees!
Plenty of hard work done to unload and organise over 130 semi-mature trees. Through our various city-wide projects, we will be planting all over Birmingham: Newtown, The Zephaniah Forest, Alum Rock, Sheldon, Handsworth, Kings Heath, Highters Heath, Holder’s Wood, and more.
We sorted through the trees to make sure our inventory lists match (they never do), and we sorted them into planting groups depending on their locations.
Our first tree planted this year will be for the Treemembrance programme, run by Julianne Statham, who has been working hard with the sponsors to ensure their memorial and commemorative trees are planted.
We will be planting The Zephaniah Forest during Tree Week and beyond, with Benjamin’s loved ones and volunteer groups over Birmingham, as well as the inclusion of an orchard for Benjamin’s love of fruit trees. We look forward to putting these trees in the ground, just as we did last year, and will every year!
An afternoon in Burbury Park! The poetree walk and workshop on 9th November was a lovely couple of hours, filled with creativity and history. Julianne Statham’s fantastic tree walk, coupled with the myths and legends and tie these trees to present-day beliefs, and being in a space where Benjamin Zephaniah grew up was truly inspiring.
Bradley and Zakariye were once again incredible hosts under the gazebo, for a poetry session with prompts and the ideas we bought back with us from the walk. David Springer, Benjamin’s brother, was kind enough to stop by, writing and reading an amazing poem with a personal touch during the workshop, and the Chair of Burbury Park Community Forum, Sonya, who did just the same with her anecdotes and local knowledge.
The leaning planes, the writing on the beech tree, the poorly sycamore surviving despite the odds – the poetry in nature is something Benjamin Zephaniah saw every day, and BTP can’t wait to give back to his community with this legacy forest in Newtown.
Don’t forget to send your poems to us via email or use our form on the website! The Trees Please, Poetry Please? competition ends midnight 1st December. We want to thank, with all our hearts, the people who made this happen, and especially those who attended the event!
West Midlands Combined Authority have bestowed on BTP a Community Environment Fund 2024 Award, to celebrate the work we have done during the ongoing Street Tree Survey project! Tonia Clark, BTP Chair, is pictured here with the Deputy Mayor Councillor Sharon Thompson receiving the award on behalf of BTP and its incredible surveying team. The award is made from reclaimed materials, and the wood is cherry. Massive congratulations to Nina, Dee, and all the volunteer surveyors. Straight back to data collecting for the team…
Perry Barr Street Trees
The BTP Street Tree surveying team were out taking tree data in Perry Barr, 17th November, and once again had a great time doing so! Thank you to Jeevan, Valerie, Meena and Sam for another successful surveying session with Nina, Trustee for Street Trees. They surveyed 17 trees with 5 positive interactions with the residents, which is exactly what we like to see.
On the other hand, this damaged Tilia is unfortunately something the surveyors have come across several times recently, especially considering the 3 trees we had that were sawn at the base. We would like to change these minds, and bring everyone together under the appreciation of trees, nature, and the world around us!
The leftover spider plushie in the tree gave the surveyors a giggle, but this shows us how people use trees, and always have done since humans began… We lived high amongst the trees! So, if you’d like to join them for your love of nature, please let us know or sign up here.
Poets Bradley Taylor (who has been working closely with us promoting the poetry competition) and Zakariye (our external judge representing the poetry community) ran a joint Zephaniah Forest Writing Workshop, on 30th October, at Cherry Reds’ in Birmingham City Centre.
It was a truly wonderful session, with one attendee coming from Manchester, as well as a young boy who blew everyone away with the poem he had just written from the prompt session – the entire room was speechless!
The group discussed various writing techniques that Benjamin Zephaniah uses, especially focusing on speech elements and repetition, creating mantras and memorable wording that lingers. The creative writers wrote their own poems based on these features, and another attendee read their poetry aloud to people for the very first time.
A huge thanks to Bradley and Zakariye for running this incredible workshop, and we look forward to reading the submissions that can be sent to us here. Competition deadline: Midnight, 1st December 2024.
Here is a poem submitted to Trees Please, Poetry Please? by Alex Johl, who is a part of the University of Birmingham’s Race Equality Network, and an admirer of Benjamin Zephaniah:
Ordained by God? I’m chosen by the People. King of the Brummies. Weighed down by your crown. I hold my head free. Chest out, shoulders back. Defiant. Disruptor. Dreadlocked meditator. They can take the knee. I’ll stand. Metal on the shoulder and chest won’t keep me in line. Silence me? I’ll be louder than ever. Watch this.
We were of course spreading the word of The Zephaniah Forest and its poetry competition. We spoke to many lovely families for Family Day, teaching tree ring counting, encouraging new urban forest volunteers, and preaching for the trees. Thank you to the MAC for having us once again, and we are already looking forward to next year!
This wonderful secular urban sermon, once given by Benjamin Zephaniah, was revived in the most spectacular way in his memory. On Monday 7th October, a heart-warmingly large crowd gathered in memory of Benjamin, with The Benjamin Zephaniah Family Legacy Group, held inside Birmingham Cathedral of St. Philip in the heart of the city centre, hosted by Writing West Midlands at the Birmingham Literature Festival of 2024.
After opening remarks from Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive of WWM, the incredible Sue Brown read several of Benjamin’s poems before Casey Bailey, previous Birmingham Poet Laureate and proud Nechells resident, gave the main address as a secular sermon, filled with words from Casey’s heart that resonated with Benjamin Zephaniah and his ideals, executing poetically just how important and impactful Benjamin was not just within Birmingham, but reaching and researching places nobody else was considering.
The world suffered the sudden loss of Benjamin last December, that’s why we are working with the legacy group to fundraise and establish The Zephaniah Forest in Burbury Park – a greenspace close to where the family lived for a time – in a heartfelt dedication to Benjamin’s memory in respect to his love of nature.
The 65 trees for the 65 years of his life will be celebrated by giving back to a community he once lived and thrived within, as well as adorning the trees (and recording the poems next to their TreePlotter counterparts, with a website dedication page, and eventually an anthology) with the 65 poems that win the Trees Please, Poetry Please? competition, based on his sublime poem of the same name.
Charley & David Springer at the Urban Sermon for Benjamin Zephaniah.
We want to thank Writing West Midlands and Birmingham Literature Festival for inviting us to this fantastic tribute, the evening was thoroughly enjoyed, and we look forward to the wonderful poems we receive!
We caught up with Barrington from Writers Without Borders, whose fabulous workshop inspired one of the poems that our Communications Manager read, as well as a helping hand from urban forest volunteer Sami.
Many people have already submitted their poetry towards the Trees Please, Poetry Please? competition as part of The Zephaniah Forest, and we were kindly invited to share our own as well as have our small stand to promote Benjamin’s legacy!
We are humbled to have been invited back, it was a great day filled with the appreciation of nature (and also the national poetry day theme of counting came up a few times), and hope to see some beautiful poetry adorning the Burbury Park trees this winter. well done to everyone who performed, and thank you to everyone who organised this event. We look forward to more poetry submissions!
Bradley Taylor ran a fantastic Zephaniah Forest Poetry Workshop at Fletcher’s Bar, King’s Heath, 24th September. He has been working with us to promote the poetry competition for The Zephaniah Forest, as well as submitting his own poetry as well.
As the Overcoat Poetry host, Bradley teamed up with us to run with incredible Benjamin and tree-themed writing sessions to encourage creatives to submit their poetry towards our Trees Please, Poetry Please? competition, as part of The Zephaniah Forest being planted in memory of his legacy this winter in Burbury Park.
He used performances and poems by the late, great Benjamin Zephaniah as prompts for the inspired attendees, who then took their favourite parts and used them to construct their own poetry. These poems submitted to us will see 65 of them paired with one of the 65 trees being planted for the 65 years of Benjamin’s incredible life.
A little help from our friends…
He was joined by his friend and poetic colleague Mads (another incredible Brum-based spoken word poet, and one of Bradley’s closest friends), and in Bradley’s words, “the workshop went really well – [we] had about ten people and they’ve all submitted poems. I think they’re all brilliant too. One is even a riff on the ‘trees please’ poem, but adjust to libraries.” Very creative!
We wanted to say a huge thanks to Bradley for running this fantastic workshop – not only are we planting dedicated trees, but the community are writing dedicated poetry, paving the way for a beautiful legacy in Newtown for Benjamin.
A magnificent day was had at Caldmore Community Garden’s Sustainable Futures Festival, where we were kindly invited to talk about The Zephaniah Forest and our poetry competition, encouraging people to write and submit their poetry with us towards Benjamin’s legacy trees in Burbury Park!
With so many widely contributing community and corporate groups doing their bit for nature and the environment, we came together in a day of storytelling, bee-autiful performances, composting, pledging, and face-painting, the community came together for this spectacular day.
We were joined at the Sustainable Futures Festival by a dedicated and enthusiastic urban forest volunteer, Sami, who alongside Ian spread the knowledge of tree rings to the passing youth, whilst Charley encouraged creatives to contribute their poetry to the Trees Please, Poetry Please? competition with home-made prompt sheets inspired by Writers Without Borders.
Thank you to the Gardens for inviting and so kindly accommodating us for this amazing festival, as well as everyone who helped or stopped by, and we look forward to the next one! Hello, West Midlands!
Yesterday’s (1st September) Benjamin Zephaniah: A Celebration held at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) was filled with positivity and emotion, as people gathered here to remember the Birmingham icon and celebrate with his family, friends, and many creative and nature-loving individuals from our beautiful city and beyond.
With powerful performances from Jasmine Gardosi current Birmingham Poet Laureate, and the previous Laureate Casey Bailey, as well as fantastic musicians, films, and art installations – we joined the wonderful festivities to talk about The Zephaniah Forest and our Trees Please, Poetry Please? competition!
We are so grateful and delighted to finally meet David Springer, one of Benjamin’s brothers, who ran mesmerising screen-printing workshops during the event, and has been working with us on the plans for the legacy forest in Burbury Park, Newtown, where Benjamin and his family grew up for a time.
This fated mini forest will give back to the community that Benjamin lived in, loved, and never truly left, as his spirit will continue through the growth of the new trees, their expanding roots, and their dedicated poetry.
We also had a chance to catch up with Bradley Taylor, who is helping us with our endeavours with his enthralling verse and engaging workshops, as well as having many interesting and fruitful conversations with attendees at our stall.
Congratulations to all the incredible performers, and a huge thank you to the MAC for inviting us to such a thoroughly enjoyable and emotive event, and to those who promised us a poetry submission we surely look forward to receiving them, and we are thankful for the support we’ve received for Benjamin’s legacy forest with the Benjamin Zephaniah Family Legacy Group.
A tremendous day all around, and our entire team came home with big smiles on our faces!
Thanks to Tonia, Mac, Charley, Jim, Julianne, David, Bradley, BZFLG, MAC, & all who visited our stall during Benjamin Zephaniah: A Celebration.
We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but we have found some rather malicious vandalism during our street tree survey in Gravelly Hill, on 28th August. Several of our newly planted trees have been intentionally attacked. Three of this year’s plantings have been sawn off at the base. They’re planted adjacent to each other and have been vandalised in the same manner. A third tree was vandalised within 30 metres, and had been done rather recently, as the saw dust is fresh.
It greatly saddens us to see our trees not make it to maturity for whatever reason – may it be disease, climate change, or other factors, but vandalism is by far the most heartbreaking for us to witness. Birmingham TreePeople are working to change the minds of people who dislike trees and nature (how could you?!), by reiterating the benefits that trees bring to us, as though in a symbiotic relationship.
Trees have been here far longer than humans, but now we are so populous, it is up to us to protect our precious planet, and all its life forms, especially our street trees that give so much back to the urban environment – just by existing!
We hope to lee less vandalism in the future. Looking on the bright side…
On the upside: Thank you to Lawrence, Tanim, Val, and Meena for surveying 30 trees with Nina across Gravelly Hill and Alum Rock. There were also 3 positive interactions with residents, and one more the following day in Perry Barr, with Lawrence and Tanim; 26 trees were surveyed!
Please visit our webpage on tree equity to find out more about what trees can do for you. If you’d like to become a part of the surveying team, please go to this webpage and follow the link to the Google Form.
Celebrating with Nechells POD for the end of the UFA
Nechells POD recently held their POD Fest on 23rd August, and as part of the final UFA-related event, Katy teamed up with them once again (but certainly not for the last time) to bring many tree-themed activities to the celebrations!
Katy Hawkins, our Engagement Officer, has worked hard to establish lasting relationships with fantastic organisations around Birmingham during the Urban Forest Accelerator programme.
With previously seen watering can decoration, The Woodland Trust (one of our UFA partners) inspired tree guides/swatches, and even a playful tree dance routine with attendees contributing nature choreography – marking the end of the UFA project, but the start of a new era for Birmingham TreePeople, we want to thank our friends we have made during the last year, Nechells POD for this lovely event, and of course Katy, whose work has been instrumental in creating a better tree community in Birmingham!
Would you like to seek employment with Birmingham TreePeople? We are looking to recruit an Operations Manager. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 18th September 2024 9am. Application forms (found on this page) should be sent to Tonia Clark, Chair: [email protected] (CVs will not be accepted). Interviews will take place the week beginning Monday 23rd September, and the dates and times will be communicated to shortlisted candidates.
Job Title: Operations Manager Role: Remote/Hybrid Location: Birmingham Accountable to: Trustees Salary: £30,000 (pro rata) Hours: 18.5 hours per week Leave: 25 days per annum plus bank holidays (pro rata)
Nechells POD are hosting a fabulous festival, POD Fest, this Friday 23rd August, 11-3, with plenty of activities for the community and beyond to get involved in!
This also includes tree-themed fun with Katy Hawkins, as the last collaborative appearance during the Urban Forest Accelerator.
Fortunately, our wonderful employees will be staying with us thanks to a new grant, but please celebrate the triumphs with Katy – and the POD, one of our great community networking and planting partners, friends made during this immersive project – this Friday, at the POD’s summer family event.
If you haven’t already, and you’ve taken part in one of Katy’s sessions (arts, walks, planting, and everything in between), please fill out this survey if you haven’t done so already, to help us with the end of the project: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/UFA-People
We look forward to seeing you at Nechells POD’s exciting POD Fest at the end of the week!
