7th Year with Urban Tree Festival

Age UK City of London partnered with the Urban Tree Festival in its 7th year, to help celebrate the benefits, beauty, majesty, and magic of trees in urban environments.

In the week commencing 12th May we helped deliver three Tree Walks, attended by around 50 people. The first was an adaptation of our regular ‘Very Gentle Walk’ around the Barbican area, this time led by arboriculturalist Chris Schuler who told participants all about the history of the native and non-native trees of the area.

The second was a coach trip to Sydenham Hill woods, led by nutritionist Theresa Webb, who helped participants, including our older Bengali women’s group, understand how to forage safely and what plants to use for a range of natural remedies.

Finally we were excited to visit Caledonian Park with Director of the London Tree Ring Phil Paulo, who gave us a tour of the many fascinating species found there.

It was a brilliant way of bringing some ‘value added’ to our regular activities at the same time as reaching new audiences and supporting a valuable local initiative like the Urban Tree Festival.

An earlier version of this article was scheduled for publication on 23rd May 2025.