70 volunteers representing the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association
A local youth charity has teamed up with Surrey County Council’s Downlands Project to plant thousands of trees.
More than 70 volunteers representing the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA), from Kingston, New Malden, Putney, Raynes Park and Wimbledon planted over a 1,000 trees and cleared hedgerows for future tree planting at Old Lodge Farm in Surrey.
The event formed part of the AMYA’s national tree planting campaign designed to help educate young adults and children about the environment. The youth charity has to date planted over 64,000 in the past year up and down the UK.
Debbie Hescott, Project Officer for the Downlands Project, said: “It’s a phenomenal amount of people that have come out to help today. It’s made a really big difference. We’ve managed to plant a really large area that would have taken us a long time… It’s really nice to see such a community spirit… We would love to have you back.”
Jamal Akbar, a resident of Raynes Park and volunteer on the day said: “We had a fantastic day today working with the team at Old Lodge Farm. We were a bit concerned about the weather but the Sun came out for us.”
Lutfur Rehman, a resident of Kingston and AMYA Youth Leader for South West London said: “We consider planting trees as a service to humanity like other charity work carried out by our youth association. Events such as these also help to promote good community relations and our members are keen to get involved in similar schemes in the future.”
