Tree-mendous news – over £24,000 raised for local charity Hospsicare!

For the third year running, the University’s Grounds Team have teamed up with local charity Hospiscare to recycle Christmas trees and support terminally ill people and their families.

Volunteers collected trees from households across Devon in exchange for a £10 donation. The trees were taken to the University’s Streatham Campus and chipped by the Grounds Team. The chippings will be used as mulch for the shrub beds on our campuses.

More than 2,000 Christmas trees were collected by 85 volunteers and chipped by the Grounds Team – raising over £24,000 for Hospiscare.

Laura Robertson, Fundraising Projects Manager at Hospiscare said: “This initiative simply wouldn’t be possible without the generous support from our local community and organisations like the University of Exeter donating their time and invaluable services. The money raised from our tree collection and recycling campaign will help us support more local patients and families living with terminal illness, who need us now more than ever.”

Dave Evans, Head of Grounds Operations at the University of Exeter said: “The University’s Grounds Team feel privileged to support Hospiscare once again through the Christmas tree recycling scheme. It’s been a fantastic effort by all involved and we’re proud to be able to provide for our community in Devon, at a time when it is needed most.”

The partnership between the University of Exeter and Hospiscare is in its third year, and together, they have recycled over 4,500 trees with the scheme raising over £55,000 for the charity since it began.

Join Us for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

Join the Sustainability Team on Friday 27 January for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch on Streatham Campus.

Weatherproof clothing advised. Feel free to bring drinks, snacks etc.

Binoculars would be handy, but you can take part without.

If you are a keen birdwatcher/ornithologist and would be happy to lead on identifying birds, please let Chris know.

Meet @ 9.30am outside Camper Cafe, Queens Building.

Depending on numbers, a bird count will take place at three different locations. If the weather forecast is awful, you will be emailed by 8pm on Thursday 26 January to cancel.

Email Chris to sign up or for further details.

Hospiscare Christmas Tree Recycling

 

We are delighted to be supporting Hospiscare’s Christmas Tree Recycling scheme again this year.

If you live in Exeter, Exmouth, Honiton, Tiverton, Sidmouth or Ottery St Mary there’s an easy way to recycle your Christmas tree and help local people with a terminal diagnosis at the same time.

In return for a donation to Hospiscare, volunteers will collect your Christmas tree from your home on Friday 13th or Saturday 14th January. The trees will be brought to the University’s Streatham Campus where our Grounds Team will shred them. The clippings will be used to improve public rights of way and distributed as mulch around our grounds.

Registration closes on Sunday 8th January. For more information and to register, visit https://www.hospiscare.co.uk/events/christmas-tree-recycling/

Seed Collection Event – Wednesday 9th November 2022

Would you like to be involved in growing the next generation of trees on our grounds and learn about our wide variety of tree species? Then this innovative and exciting event is for you!

Please join our Grounds Team for a Seed Collection Event on Wednesday 9th November 2022 to collect seeds from veteran trees on Streatham Campus. The seeds will grow our next generation of trees, ensuring our beautiful campus continues to support biodiversity in the face of climate change.

You will learn about our wide variety of tree species, the current threats facing our tree population and the importance of seed collection in protecting the future of healthy and biodiverse woodlands.

Please wear suitable shoes and bring waterproofs (if it rains). Gardening gloves will be provided, as you will be picking through seeds and leaves.

Meet outside Reed Hall at 10am.

Covid Testing Sheds Upcycled to Community Gardens

Throughout the pandemic the University sited an outdoor Covid testing centre on Streatham Campus and now that this centre has been disbanded, the Covid Testing Centre Manager, Deborah Custance-Baker, contacted the Grounds Team and kindly offered two of the testing sheds to be re-housed.

Deborah said “During the pandemic, the Covid Rapid Response Team took over the Sports Hall and ran a drive-through testing centre at Car Park B, which we used the sheds for. The testing officially ended at the end of early June 2022. We had found it difficult to rehome equipment from the the project as there was such a mass of it all. Now Covid is coming to and end, it is great to find a benefit of these sheds for the local communities”.

Our Horticultural and Operations Manager, Anthony Cockell, made some enquiries within the local communities and found two new homes for these sheds – Exeter St Thomas Community Garden and the Refugee Support Devon Community Allotment.

Anthony, along with two members of the Grounds Team – Sam Whitehorne and Leo Brooke, used their University annual volunteering community day to work together and deliver these sheds to their new horticultural homes.

This is a great sustainable and community initiative and we are delighted to be able to support these local communities.

The pandemic highlighted the importance of outdoor space, the benefits of nature and gardening and how it increases wellbeing and mental and physical health. So it seems fitting that equipment used for the pandemic can now be used for community allotments and gardens.

Thank you to everyone involved with this project; your generosity and hard work will benefit many!

Loading the sheds

Loading the sheds

Loading the sheds

Delivering the shed to the Refugee Support Devon Community Allotment

Shed delivered – great job everyone!

Big Climate Fightback! Tree Planting Event

We are all increasingly aware of just how important trees are to our environment; from absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to protecting nature and wildlife from the adverse impacts of climate change.

As part of the Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback, the Classics Department claimed approximately 30 tree saplings through Students for Trees and, in conjunction with the Grounds Team, these saplings were planted by students and staff from the Classics Department at the Lower Hoopern Valley on Thursday 31st March 2022.

This is the third annual tree planting event in the Lower Hoopern Valley that the Grounds Team have co-ordinated with student and staff volunteers.

Great job everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

Tree-mendous News – more than £16,000 raised for local charity Hospiscare!

We are delighted to announce that we have helped raise more than £16,000 (with gift aid still to be added) for the local charity Hospiscare by supporting their Christmas Tree Recycling Campaign.

1,200 trees were collected by volunteers from homes across Exeter, Exmouth and Honiton and brought to the green waste site on our Streatham Campus.

The trees were then chipped by our Grounds Team and agricultural students from Bicton College.

A Jensen chipper was kindly lent to us by Elm Star, a local company in Newton Abbot, who also instructed the students on how to operate the chipper.

The chippings will be applied on the grounds around campus and also used to improve a local public right of way path.

We would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in the collaborative community campaign raising funds for the very worthwhile local charity Hospiscare. You are absolute stars!

Laura Robertson, Hospiscare Fundraising Projects Manager said “the money raised could fund 22 in-patient beds for a whole 24 hours. During what is a particularly difficult time for Hospiscare financially, this total really will help considerably and will contribute to ensuring we are here for local people living with terminal illness and their families long into the future”.

Just some of the 1,200 trees to be shredded!

Getting ready to start

Here we go!

Jensen chipper kindly lent by local company Elm Star

Working hard

Chipping in action

Operating the chipper

Bicton College students doing a fantastic job

Nearly finished!

Go Green Week – Tree Planting – Lower Hoopern Valley

As part of Go Green Week 2020, the Grounds Team worked with volunteers from the Student Tree Charter on Wednesday 12th February to plant trees in the Lower Hoopern Valley which runs parallel to the Prince of Wales Road.

A variety of tree species were planted at the joint event including Betula pendula, Scots pine, Prunus spinosa, Alder, Nordmann Fir and Rosa canina.

Great job everyone!

Grounds Team and Student Tree Planting Event

The Grounds Team and 17 student volunteers worked together to plant over 100 trees in the Hoopern Taddiforde Valley along Prince of Wales Road on Saturday 30th November.

The mainly native trees including Birch, Rowan and Oak were planted as the Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback.

Great job everyone!

    

 

Joint Litter Pick Project, St David’s Neighbourhood – Friday 27th April 2018

The University’s Grounds staff are very happy to be teaming up with the St David’s Litter Busters Group on Friday 27th April 2018 to carry out a litter pick in the St David’s neighbourhood.

This is our first joint project and we are looking forward to an enjoyable and successful day.