Ride for Research (RfR) continues on…

Building on the RfR success, an over-arching initiative, Fund4Trees (F4Ts), has been set-up with RfR as one of its key events. The aim is to establish F4Ts as a registered charity*.

RfR 2012 news
Two events are planned: Reading (2nd September) to coincide with the AA annual conference and Birmingham (date TBA). In Reading, trees will be planted with community groups in three public parks, with lunch at the Bartlett Research Laboratory. To end the Ride a cedar of Lebanon will be planted at the University of Reading with the AA Field Day conference delegates.

As before, RfR riders will be requested to raise £200 to take part – with all monies going to F4Ts and urban tree research. Many thanks to Keith Sacre at Barchams for agreeing to sponsor the trees for all future RfR events.

* http://fund4trees.org.uk/ To operate in the meantime (and with the Gift Aid advantages of being allied to a charity) we will partner with the Sylva Foundation until the necessary £5k is raised for the Charities Commission.

Hope to see on a Ride soon.

Russell Ball, ISA UKI Chapter President

Tree Officers guide the LTOA for the next two years

The London Tree Officers Association (LTOA) have announced a newly elected Executive Committee to head up the Association for the next two years. The committee will continue to develop and support the management of London’s trees. For full details of the new committee and to read their short biographies, click here.

The committee’s new chair, Jake Tibbetts, is the Team Manager for Arboriculture within the London Borough of Islington with the new vice-chair, Richard Edwards who is Trees and Woodland officer in the London Borough of Croydon. The chair, vice chair and committee members Dave Lofthouse (Merton), Andy Tipping (Barnet), Oliver Stutter (Southwark), Paul Akers (Westminster), Rupert Bentley-Walls (Hackney), John Parker (Transport for London), Barbara Milne (Westminster), Patrick Langley (Wandsworth) and Rhodri Jones (Tower Hamlets) will drive the Association forward over the next two years, developing tree management within the Capital and promoting the activities of the Association.

Jake Tibbetts, new chair of the LTOA said: “It is a challenging time to be a tree officer, with less resources available and increasing pressures across all activities. This makes it more important that we have an active, engaged and collabarative membership. Members should seek and share all the help, advice, support and training facilitated and provided by the LTOA. By working together, we can support each other during these challenging times and continue to improve the care of our city’s trees”.

Agenda for LTOA Members Seminar

Friday 12 October 2012 in Wandsworth

Thank you to Patrick Langley at LB Wandsworth for hosting the meeting and paying for the teas, coffees and Quentin Nicholls at Arbortrack for sponsoring the lunch.

Ride for Research arrives in Reading

Building on the success of the inaugural London ride, on 2nd September, eleven riders* completed a twenty-five mile ride around Reading. In all trees (kindly donated by Barchams) were planted in three public parks with Tree Wardens, with the last tree planted at Reading University as part of the Arboricultural Association Field Day. Thanks to Ian Barrow and Dr Glynn Percival at Bartletts for supplying lunch and a detailed tour of the field-trial station and labs. Raised funds (£1,500.0) were used to part-sponsor the Chief Executive TDAG Trees in the Urban Landscape document print-run for England & Wales. See full write-up on website. I’ll leave the last words to Tim Moya: “Speaking on behalf of the older and less athletic element (me) - I loved it”.

NEXT RIDE: BIRMINGHAM OCT. 16th 2012
Visit our web site to register, http://fund4trees.org.uk/

* Jon Banks (Bartlett Tree Experts), Mick Boddy (Symbiosis Consulting Ltd.), David Dearsly (Tim Moya & Associates), Martin Gammie (South Oxfordshire & Vale of White Horse DC), Ian Haynes (Glendale Countryside), Robin Hellier (Epping Forest District Council), Gabriel Hemery (Sylva Foundation), Tim Moya (Tim Moya & Associates), Patrick Stileman (Patrick Stileman Ltd.), Peter Wharton (Wharton Arboriculture Ltd.) and Russell Ball (Arbol EuroConsulting Ltd).