PeCan's Festival of Trees celebrated all that was great about trees - pics by Tina Knowles Photography

Grow Up! campaign supports Petersfield’s blossoming love for trees

Our ambitious Grow Up! programme helped fund a fantastic Festival of Trees in Petersfield, giving people the chance to celebrate the benefits of these special plants.

The event was run in partnership with Petersfield Climate Action Network (PeCAN), Petersfield Community Garden, Petersfield Town Council, and East Hampshire District Council.

It aimed to encourage more people to plant trees, which not only locks up carbon from the atmosphere but can increase biodiversity, wildlife protection, shade provision and flood mitigation – helping to make us more resilient to future challenges.

EHDC’s Grow Up! programme seeks to nurture a love of environment and provide for support our rural businesses and communities.

The festival was run in Petersfield Community Garden - Tina Knowles Photography

Cllr Richard Millard, EHDC Leader, said: “Some of the most important aims of the Grow Up! programme was an ambition to get people back in touch with the natural world and promoting environmental sustainability.

“The Festival of Trees fits perfectly with those objectives and PeCAN does a tremendous amount of work to promote sustainability around the area, so I am delighted we have been able to support them with this grant.”

The event, held on Saturday 22 February at Petersfield Community Garden, offered advice on how to plant and care for trees, crafts, willow-weaving workshops and more.

The Community Garden became a fantastic space for families, allowing children to explore nature by creating fairy gardens, making leaf rubbings, creating shapes from beans and seeds, and planting. There were even homemade refreshments on offer. All activities were offered free of charge.

Grow Up! granted PeCAN £9,000 to run the Festival of Trees and a project to put a Fruit Tree in Every Garden. Many of the 370 visitors to the festival collected subsidised fruit trees they had purchased through the scheme. In total, 1,200 fruit trees have been handed out via PeCAN’s project this season, with a further 100 supplied by Petersfield Town Council. This means that, over the past five years, PeCAN and collaborators have distributed more than 3,000 trees.

If you attended the festival, PeCAN would love to have your feedback! Please fill in the short survey below.

Follow the button below to register your interest in fruit trees on the PeCAN website to receive notifications about the project next winter

Arts and crafts at the Petersfield Festival of Trees - Tina Knowles Photography

All about Grow Up!

Grow Up! is an East Hampshire-wide programme, funded by the UK Government, to support our rural economy, reconnect people with countryside, provide new skills, new careers and new opportunities for our residents. 

Through six separate schemes, the programme will span support for businesses, mental health, education, social cohesion and environmental sustainability.

The Grow Up! programme is being funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which East Hampshire District Council has designated to help rural communities.  

This project is funded by the UK Government through the UKSPF

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and​ skills.

Find out more on GOV.UK