On Saturday 6 March 2021, the first 10 oak trees of a planned 850 were planted in a small, COVID secure, ceremony with the honour of planting the very first tree going to HI Trees’ fundraiser Lily Layzell, who personally raised £1,114 for the project. Nearly five years later, this new woodland has now been honoured with its own name – Roundabout Wood.
The funds raised by HI Trees were used to re-plant the area where trees were removed by Highways England during the major A14 roadworks, resulting in the loss of huge numbers of long established trees at our village gateway.
Community involvement
A wide range of suggestions for this new woodland were received from across the community; ranging from Mulch Wood or Volunteers’ Wood, to Romantic Gateway or Legacy Wood. Suggestions included references to Cawcutts, and older terms for woodland such as Shaw.
HI Trees volunteer Debbie Thomassen told HI HUB: “We’re officially announcing that the new Hi Trees’ woodland created by our community is now called Roundabout Wood.
“We got to the name by a roundabout route! It recognises its location next to the expanded roundabout on the A14 and also aptly summarises how we have evolved from planting to restore the felled trees that formed the Green Gateway to our villages, to being actively involved in our community. Our community has planted around 1,500 trees and we’ve merrily mulched and cared for them with hundreds of wonderful volunteers from local groups, families and individuals.
“Roundabout Wood was one of the most popular suggestions, and it is also easily recognisable as it is next to Histon & Impington’s only roundabout. And we all like it too!”
Volunteers needed!
The ongoing weekly iCAS sessions with students from Impington Village College will continue at Roundabout Wood. The iCAS programme aims to support students’ personal development and wellbeing, encourage commitment and responsibility, and foster a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.
“We’d love a couple more adults to join us during term-time on Wednesday afternoons, from around 2 – 4 pm to help with our iCAS sessions”, said Debbie. “It’s truly uplifting to work alongside these enthusiastic young people, as we help them help our trees to blossom”.
The HI Trees’ team is looking forward to welcoming helpers old and new at the upcoming Tree Care event on Sunday 19th April. Look out for more details on this here on HI HUB in the weeks ahead.
Read Also: It’s HI time for trees and Marking a community’s deep-rooted love for its trees
