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!
Barrington Gordon led a riveting 65 poems workshop, focusing on constructing a draft for the Trees Please, Poetry Please call-out, which will see poems dedicated to a specific tree to be recorded on TreePlotter and our website for The Zephaniah Tree Trail.
Barrington opened with a soothing mindfulness exercise, focusing on a particular tree of our choice, imaging our senses reacting to its presence, eventually becoming the tree itself, and visualising Benjamin walking over to us with the thoughts and feelings it invoked. This helped the group with the next part of the session, where we constructed mind maps or lists to pick out keywords, phrases, and ideas from our imagination and visualisation.
We all wrote our first drafts of Benjamin and nature-themed poems, with help from the prompts from Barrington, and what wonderful were words were written! Each writer bought a unique flavour to their craft, and Pat De Whalley wasted no time with sharing her playful poem with us the next day:
Now that I’m older Dreads in my hair Many words I’ve penned
Will you still remember me now I am gone Wealth of stories now troubled by none Vegan, Dyslexic, Poet, Black Man I’ve been called them all BUT Will you now grieve me Will you still read me Now I’m 64 +1
Writers Without Borders recently invited Charlotte McDermott, our Communications Officer, to attend one of their writing workshops held at The Birmingham Hippodrome. Why? We recently launched the poetry competition for The Zephaniah Forest, where we are calling for 65 poems for the 65 trees for the 65 years of Benjamin Zephaniah’s life.
A message from Charlotte: “A humongous thanks and praise to the Writers Without Borders; they made me feel incredibly welcome with their warm and vibrant personalities, and after many years away from the poetry world it was thrilling to experience it again. Thank you to Barrington, Vivian, Pat, Fiona, Sindy, Sayyara, and Anne for returning our enthusiasm regarding The Zephaniah Forest, the beautiful sentiments surrounding Benjamin Zephaniah, and the upcoming poetry submissions – that I am looking forward to reading with great vigour. Good luck with your approaching performances, and we hope to work with you again soon!”
Birmingham TreePeople would like to kindly thank Mark Johnston for sending us a complimentary copy of his new autobiography – Planting ideas in the urban forest – with such a wonderful note left for us on the inside. 🌿
Congratulations on the publication, and thank you for the words of appreciation for our ongoing work – people and trees go hand-in-hand, that is the key to urban forestry! 🌿
Katy led the first part of the walk, pointing out details of local trees recently planted using mindful techniques and descriptions, encouraging the group to get up close and personal.
It was superb to visit our trees we planted together and see the beauty in them thriving!
Bradley used Isabel Galleymore and Jean Binta Breeze as nature poet inspirations during the second part of the workshop, where after their reflections on connections with trees, wrote a beautiful community poem (where everyone had a go on his typewriter).
After the poem was read and well-receive by all, the page was laminated and attached with string to the tree, for their poetree to be shared with the rest of the community; it did the trick, as a passerby stopped to read their collaborative work immediately!
Thank you to Katy, Bradley, The Hub, Open Door, and Greener Cleaner Firs and Bromford. Watch this fantastic video by Bradley about the workshop on his Instagram.
Katy Hawkins led an all women’s nature-based workshop in Alum Rock with Women of Worth recently, a sensory tree walk sharing biology, symbolism, and herbal uses. Now that we have received a generous grant from Arconic, we can plant some new trees in this priority ward this coming Winter, and we hope to continue our partnership during the planting season!
Now that St. Joseph’s and Cromwell schools have been notified, and their winning pupils are aware of their posters adorning new trees in their ward, we can announce the winning posters online!
Yesterday, Katy Hawkins walked around Nechells, installing the creative, hand-drawn posters by local children on our newly planted trees! This will be a great way to encourage not only our youth, but everyone in Birmingham to look after the trees that look after us, by keeping them watered, healthy, and thriving.
Katy also met passing residents, living near various trees, and spoke to them about watering, which they were keen to do!
The posters went to the winning schools and pupils from the two participant schools. A child’s imagination can truly grasp how special trees are to us and this planet, and those are the sparks in our eyes we need to retain.
Thank you to all who participated, Nechells POD for co-hosting this competition, and congratulations to the winners – go out and see your posters, but don’t forget to water the trees!
