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 […]
Tag: relationship building
Benjamin Zephaniah: A Celebration
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 […]
End of the UFA at POD Fest
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, […]
POD Fest
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 […]
65 Poems Workshop
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 […]
Thank You!
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. 🌿 Mark Johnston recently spoke alongside The Woodland Trust, Katy Hawkins, and Wild in the City for […]
Women’s Tree Walk
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 […]
Winners: School Poster Competition
Announcing the Winners 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 […]
65 Poems for 65 Years
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 […]
Alum Rock Tree Walks
School Tree Care Workshops
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 […]
The Zephaniah Forest
It’s all about the roots!The Zephaniah Forest: 65 trees for 65 years 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 […]
Tree People Network Day
What would a green network of tree people around our city look like? On the 12th June 2024, many tree people from organisations all over the country came to find out. Trees for Cities, in partnership with us at Birmingham TreePeople, organised the first Tree People Network Day, where community group representatives came to learn […]
UK Tree Cities Forum
The first UK Tree Cities Forum took place on the 11th June 2024 in the University of Birmingham’s The Exchange, seeing a menagerie of expert speakers take to the podium to discuss The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Cities of the World programme. From councils all over […]
Story Workshop
Katy Hawkins ran a tree-lated story workshop, alongside Nechells POD, under the canopy of Bloomsbury Park trees on 30th May. Synthia, local storyteller, assisted Katy with the workshop and also spun an enthralling yarn, in between tree activities! The sun beamed down in between light showers, under the gazebo with warm blankets, exchanging knowledge and […]