From Small Acorns................

Lions clubs worldwide have been tasked to plant 1 million trees over the next  few years and although we in the Newport Pagnell & Olney Lions Club have managed to plant 10 trees at Olney Infants Academy and Olney Middle School, we are still a long way off from making a significant contribution to the target.

All this might change, however, thanks to a link which has developed between Swedish Furniture manufacturer IKEA, one of the largest stores in Milton Keynes and a major user of sustainable timber for its products, and the Lions Clubs in the City.

In an attempt to reduce the amount of plastic bags which were being used, the Company have introduced a small charge to anyone wanting to use a carrier bag in an effort to reduce the waste which these bags generate.      The cash collected via the sales of the bags, is ring fenced for it's community programme and is used to develop an environmental project (local community forest programme) which aims to plant new trees in the Local Community Forest close to each shop.  Based on a pilot scheme in Scotland it is anticipated that this will be about £10,000 pa for each forest. 

IKEA considers that responsible forestry is a key part of its business and by supporting forest conservation projects the Company will help to offset and reduce carbon emissions, a theme running through IKEA’s environmental strategy.  

The donated money from the Milton Keynes store, will be spent on a forest managed by the Woodland Trust and hopefully will also see IKEA staff becoming involved at a practical level by helping plant and maintain the trees provided by the Company.       More trees in the area means more green space, more places to walk and ride your bike and generally make for a better place to live and work.

The Lions Clubs of Milton Keynes will be joining together and helping IKEA plant these trees at Hollington Woods - our local Community Forest near Emberton.    This forest, off the A509 Olney/Chicheley road is owned by the Woodland Trust and is better known locally as 'Bluebell Woods' thanks to the wonderful display of Bluebells which appear each spring.  

On Saturday 17th March, a group of Lions and Staff from IKEA, Milton Keynes supported by members of the Woodland Trust,  will be donning the working clothes, taking up their spades and planting loads of trees in an effort to take us nearer our 1m target.

We will be meeting at Ekeney House, Wood Farm, Newport Road, Emberton, OLNEY MK46 5JH. and be working from 10.30 to 12.30 so if you are reading this and fancy becoming involved, drop us a note via our contact us page and we will give you some more information about what you need to bring and any other information you may need.