Tree planting for wellness

Tuesday February 15 2022 sees the start of a series of tree planting events across Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

Our Green CTM network is supporting the planting of 85 tree saplings across 22 of our sites linked to the Queen’s Canopy with free trees from NHS forests. This is part of a wider NHS Wales pledge to support the Queen’s Canopy work, with every health board in Wales engaged in planting trees sustainably.

This initiative will see Health Board staff work with patients, community partners and volunteers who are keen to help us create green spaces for wellbeing. This also highlights our commitment to decarbonisation and the need to offset our carbon outputs in ways that benefit patients and planet.

As part of the Queen’s Canopy initiative, we will be joining a UK wide network of community projects and organisations, ‘Planting a tree for the Jubilee’, all of whom are using this opportunity to champion their commitment to sustainability. Once the trees have been planted they will added to a UK map of Queens Canopy Trees.

The trees provided by NHS Forests will also be a part of another UK wide initiative coordinated by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, which aims to maximise the benefits of environmental practices for health and wellbeing.

Linda Prosser, Executive Director of Strategy and Transformation said;

“This is a fantastic time for us to be planting these trees and marking our own commitment to growing and maturing into a greener, more environmentally responsible Health Board. I couldn’t be prouder that we are working with community partners and volunteers to help plant the trees as it demonstrates the important role collaboration will play in us reducing our carbon footprint, creating green spaces for wellness and sustaining our future.

“Tree planting may seem like a small step in a much bigger picture, but when you bring each of these actions together we show that collectively, we can all help improve the way we care for our people and our planet’.

You can read more about our Green CTM initiative which launched back in October 2021 here.