Our story
Trees for Cities had been working with Redbridge Borough Council and Vision Redbridge Culture & Leisure since 2010 to deliver tree planting projects that bring together the local community and make improvements to outdoor green spaces across the borough. Building on this work, we embarked on a 3-year Strategic Partnership with the borough, from 2017 to this year, to fully utilise the potential of Redbridge’s open spaces for the benefit of local communities.
This partnership with the council has enabled us to help join up the planning and delivery of a set of complementary and connected community greening projects that have included urban woodlands, street trees, edible playgrounds and community orchards. Our strategic approach links local people and places ensuring that projects have a sustained impact on the local environment and lasting benefits to the people who live and work in Redbridge.
With funding secured over three years we were able to take a borough-wide approach to planting and connectivity of green spaces, as well as address broader issues such as flooding and air quality.
Our advice
Taking a multi-year partnership approach with local councils increases opportunities for Trees For Cities to unlock more opportunities for grant and corporate funding. However, it is important that the council funds part of the overall scheme so that they are directly involved financially in the overall success.
Community consultations to understand attitudes toward urban trees and other projects and what Redbridge residents want from their green infrastructure was really important input and a great way for locals to get behind the work.
Well-organised volunteer days and community workshops are great events for building and enhancing relationships with key stakeholders in the borough.
A multi-year approach makes it easier to build cross-sector partnerships, as well as engage the support of pan-London stakeholders including the Greater London Authority and Forestry Commission.
