100 NI Commercial staff, joined by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Times Editor James Harding volunteered for environment charity Trees for Cities.

An “amazing” NI effort has received glowing praise. Our NI Volunteers partnership with environment charity Trees for Cities got off to a flying start in east London on January 12.

The hard-working NI Commercial-led taskforce of 100 staff managed to plant nearly 5,000 young trees at Roding Valley Park in Redbridge.

That almost doubled their target and they finished the challenge more than an hour ahead of schedule.

Trees for Cities aims to enhance community spirit and beautify our cities through tree planting, community-led design, education and training initiatives.

The overall Roding Valley planting project saw 10,000 saplings planted in a week. The project is supported by London mayor Boris Johnson, who helped the NI team get under way on January 12 with The Times editor James Harding.

Carrie Adams, heading up volunteering at NI, said: “The days have provided a great opportunity for our teams to work together on something tangible, learn new skills and make a contribution to the greening of London.”

Native trees being planted at Roding Valley included oak, lime, beech and birch. NI staff were also enthused about their planting work, including Commercial campaign managers Sara Lamb, Sam Grant and Holly Maycock.

Holly said: “I’m proud of our team. We don’t get a lot of time together as a team so it’s been good. I can’t wait to come back and see how the trees have grown.”

Sara commented: “It’s been lots of exercise and we’ve done a bit of good for the environment.”

Sam added: “We can now do it at home!”

Business Intelligence director Claire Myerscough remarked: “It’s been great – volunteering is fun.”

Keep an eye out for more volunteering days from the NI Commercial team.