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!
THE ZEPHANIAH FOREST: 65 POEMS FOR 65 TREES FOR 65 YEARS
We are calling for submissions for our Benjamin Zephaniah legacy forest poetry competition! We are asking all of you creative Brummies to submit a poem on the theme of nature and Benjamin, and 65 of these poems will be associated with a particular tree on the Zephaniah Tree Trail that will be created after the mini forest in Burbury Park has been planted. We are also encouraging entrants to donate towards the fundraising pledge, which can be found here: https://www.spacehive.com/grow-the-benjamin-zephaniah-forest
We will be working with the incredibly talented Bradley Taylor during the approach towards the upcoming planting season, where he and our Engagement Officer Katy (who are co-hosting creative workshops with Open Door in Bromford on the 27th July & 10th August) will be drumming up some fantastic community engagement events in and around the area, to highlight the current beauty of Birmingham’s green spaces, offer nature-inspired outdoor poetry workshops, and draw attention to the benefits these new trees will bring – in Benjamin’s name – to a community where he grew up with his family.
Submit your poem here. If you’d like to record yourself reading Benjamin’s ‘Trees Please’ for us to post on our socials during this time, or record yourself reading your poetry submission for this project, please send the videos to [email protected], or upload them via the submissions form. If watch Bradley Taylor reading his poetic response to ‘Trees Please’ for BBC News West Midlands Today’s Yvonne Brissett, you’ll get an idea, but we don’t expect you to buy a new camera!
The Brummie Bard Keith Bracey, who will also be working with us during this project, has enthusiastically provided another one of the first submissions, and has kindly given permission to share with everyone, so let’s get the ball rolling…
BENJAMIN ZEPHANHIGHER – THE ELEVATED SOUL
He was the Rasta, the Masta Blasta Who hailed from Newtown Brum His spiritual mind was sublime Made him come up with rhyme
Turned down the OBE Coz he loved his Community Brutality in his History Slavery in the family
Uprooted and transported Distorted and deported Benji said “No Blacks, No Whites” All Souls deserve their Human rights
Benji was given an Honorary Degree Like his friend Lenny Henry A similar age, around 65, when Benji taken, being so alive.
Passing peacefully in his bed Rhyming round the tumour in his head Surrounded by his family Watching with humility.
Now he’s looking down on us Watching like Preacher “Jimmy” Jesus Looking over The Garrison In his beloved Birmingham
Katy Hawkins recently visited St. Joseph’s Primary School in Nechells, to host some creative tree care and identification sessions with three of the school’s classes.
Years 1 to 3 spent some time with Katy over two days, learning creatively just why trees are so important, sharing their youthful and thoughtful insights.
The children talked with Katy about the things we can do to help trees, and the things they do for us in return. The year 3 class was taken to see, identify, and water 4 of their local trees close to the school, and how best to do so, solidifying their place in the community, and hopefully encouraging them to look after the trees in the years to come.
Katy and the kids created The Woodland Trust inspired tree swatches, with information and drawings of their local trees, how to identify them, and how to care for them! They enjoyed their time learning with Katy, and rightly so, as they are the ones who will carry that legacy forward. Thank you, St. Joseph’s, for collaborating with us and letting us pass onto the residential youth the power of trees.
Benjamin Zephaniah, dub poet, musician, actor and activist, was a Birmingham symbol of creativity and freedom, propelling Brummies further onto the international stage with his prolific and profound poetry. Universally recognised for his unique approach to his craft – being third on the list of Britain’s favourite poets – having been offered along the way a British Honour, and the status of Birmingham Poet Laureate (both of which he turned down), Zephaniah’s death shook the foundations of the local and wider community. That’s why his youngest brother – David Springer – contacted Birmingham TreePeople on behalf of the whole family at the Benjamin Zephaniah Family Legacy Group, in the hope of carrying on this iconic legacy through his love of trees and nature.
Growing up in a large, loving family with seven siblings, David explained that their usual ‘stomping grounds’ were Newtown, Nechells, Aston, and some of Lozells and Handsworth. With its good number of tree-pit locations, Newtown’s Burbury Park has been identified as the ideal home for The Zephaniah Forest: a 65-strong conglomerate of poetry-tagged, community-consulted, and communally planted trees, to commemorate the life and works of Benjamin Zephaniah – 65 trees for the 65 years of Benjamin’s inspirational life.
Alongside Benjamin’s dedicated family members, Birmingham TreePeople plan to work with other prominent individuals from across the city as well as nature, community and arts groups, so we can plant this mini forest in his name, and over the years it will have the potential to grow further. By working with the communities within which these trees will be planted, we hope to ensure their long-term care and establishment, ensuring the dedicated memorial forest continues to grow and thrive for years to come.
The trees will be tagged and documented using TreePlotter software, alongside a Tree Trail to follow the newly planted trees, and with dedicated poems associated with each one. This means that we need 65 poems for the 65 trees (the first one has already been written – see the final poem)! The TreePeople want to work with the arts and poetry community to achieve this – examples of the poetry themes could be Benjamin himself, the idea of memory and how we remember, or of course Mother Nature (and all that she includes) that he so revered. Trees, flowers, and the roots!
During the next tree planting season which coincides with National Tree Week at the end of November, community planting days will be organised, as well as live poetry readings and music events. The final planting day for this project will be a private ceremony with his family members to plant the ultimate tree, to mark the one-year anniversary of Benjamin’s passing.
Birmingham TreePeople are currently in the process of fundraising for The Zephaniah Forest; our initial crowdfunding link is www.spacehive.com/grow-the-benjamin-zephaniah-forest, and we would especially welcome other organisations’ support and involvement with the community memorial project, to create a legacy forest for a legend in the heart of his home city.
