The star of a Splott street party came fourth in this year’s Wales Tree of the Year Award.
(c) Hannah Garcia
What an achievement! Many would raise an eyebrow at a tree from Splott deserving a top spot in such a salubrious national award, but the Railway Street cherry tree, nominated by Splott resident Hannah Garcia, came fourth in the competition run by the Woodland Trust after a swell of support from Splott residents.
In nominating the tree, Hannah said:
“Splott is an urban area of Cardiff with very little green space so, in an effort to bring local people together and celebrate this valuable and beautiful tree, a small group of residents organised a Tree Party. We handed out multilingual invitations, put up signs, baked cakes, strung bunting, and picked up litter to make sure everything was ready for the party. We weren’t sure if anyone would come but on the day people kept coming and coming, bringing cake to share and plants to swap, hula hooping in the street and getting to know each other despite the pouring rain! The atmosphere was brilliant and they can’t wait to celebrate their tree with more parties in the future.”
Following the shortlisting of the Railway Street cherry tree, Hannah and colleague Rebecca Clarke organised another tree party to celebrate its success and residents were joined by members of much-loved Cardiff band Wonderbrass.
(c) Hannah Garcia
Though the top prize went to the 400 year old Old Sweet Chestnut Tree in Pontypool, Splott can be massively chuffed to come fourth and it was all down to local residents and their sense of community.
Hannah tweeted:
“Our little tree may not have won but we love it very much – every single street tree matters for our air, for the climate and for our wellbeing. Thanks Woodland Trust for letting us be part of this, it was fun!”
Well done Hannah and Rebecca! We’re proud of you!
