RFCA support to HM the Queen’s Green Canopy

In April, East Anglia RFCA held its first in-person AGM since 2019 for association members. Members who attended the AGM were offered the opportunity to take home a tree sapling to take part in the Queen’s Green Canopy.

The Queen’s Green Canopy is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”. Everyone from individuals to youth groups, villages, cities, counties, schools and corporates was encouraged to play their part to enhance our environment, by planting trees.

Association members could take away one or more saplings from a range of species native to East Anglia. This ensures the trees are able to support local wildlife as well as thrive in the clay-rich soil prevalent in the region. The tree saplings were sourced from the Woodland Trust, and included hawthorn, hazel, silver birch, rowan, English oak and blackthorn trees.

Some members who have planted their trees and already submitted their photos to the Queen’s Green Canopy Map received a personalised image of their photo, as in this photo sent in by Essex RFCA’s Mike Almond. We hope more members will add their tree to the Queen’s map in October once the map is live again.

Our AGM is a is a showcase event; bringing together our Lord-Lieutenants, membership, key influencers from across the region and Reserve and Cadet unit representatives. It is one of the few regional opportunities where all of the single Services can gather to share experiences and create synergies.  This year, the event also included a Q&A panel and group discussions from our newly refurbished conference suite at Coldhams Lane Army Reserve Centre.

Everyone can take part in the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, as the campaign continues into 2023. Anyone interested in taking part can still collect a tree sapling from our RFCA HQ in Chelmsford, while stocks last. To express interest, email ea-info@rfca.mod.uk. When the Queen’s Green Canopy map re-opens for submissions in October, we’ll prompt everyone who planted a tree to put their mark on the map.