Goodman's Tree-mendous contribution to Theale Village

6 December 2010

Global property group Goodman, which owns, develops and manages Arlington Business Park, Reading, has donated 102 hedging plants and trees to Theale Village as part of a project to celebrate National Tree Week, which runs from 27th November to 5th December.

Organised by Theale’s Future - a voluntary group set up in 2007 to manage and prepare Theale’s Parish Plan, the initiative has culminated in 2010 trees being planted in the Village during 2010.

Theale’s Future operate by the mantra “making it happen together” and get involved in leisure, transport and environmental issues affecting the area, as well as planning events that the whole community can get involved in.

In addition to Goodman, other local organisations including West Berkshire Council and The Woodland Trust have donated trees to support the initiative.

Alok Sharma MP for Theale visited the village to congratulate everyone who was involved and to see the result of the tree donations.

Speaking at the event, Richard Potter, Property Services Director of Goodman UK Business Parks said “As one of the leading providers of business space, Goodman is a specialist in creating natural and well managed environments for the benefit of our occupiers. We welcome this opportunity to be able to extend this ethos beyond the Park to the local community. We hope that the trees we have donated jointly with our Award Winning landscaping team from Reliance Landscapes will provide a new habitat for local wildlife and enhance the surrounding neighbourhood, in the same way they benefit our Parks.”

Theale’s Future encouraged the entire local community to get involved in the project. A series of educational talks and guided walks were held to teach villagers how to care for their trees and about the environment surrounding them. An event for local residents invited them to plant the trees in the recreation ground, allowing each member of the village a chance to be a part of its history.