TREES WILL CREATE A FOREST AT MIRRLEES

A Stockport landscape company has volunteered its services to help Red Rose Forest, Cheshire Wildlife Trust, volunteers and local schools to help them plant trees at Mirrlees Fields in Hazel Grove. The tree planting on March 4th is the second day of planting at the site near MAN Diesel & Turbo UK and will result in almost one and a half thousand trees being planted.

Millar Landscapes will be helping to plant 500 trees supplied by Red Rose Forest and an additional 350 trees that the company managed to get free of charge from one of their suppliers J.A.Jones based in Southport.

Millar Landscapes Director, Tony Millar (52) commented

“ I am a great believer in supporting community projects, particularly when they involve schools. When I spotted an opportunity to help plant some trees as part of a community project which also involved local schools, I was delighted that I was able to provide some support.”

The company volunteered two members of staff – A highly skilled foreman, Martin Cassidy who has extensive knowledge of plantsmanship and a young apprentice Jake Davies who has been with the company for almost five months, undertaking an apprenticeship in horticulture.

Tony continued:

“I not only wanted to provide professional support to the dedicated Red Rose Forest  team, helping them to get a few more trees in the ground, but also to provide the young volunteers from local schools with the opportunity to speak to a skilled trades person and our young apprentice about their jobs.

“I am a passionate believer that exposure to vocational experiences should start from a very early age, in fact as soon as they are a part of the educational system and this was just another opportunity to do this”.

Tony Millar who has been involved in vocational mentoring in schools for many years, is also a member of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce local council in Stockport which provides an opportunity for him to highlight his thoughts on the importance of generating interest in creating links between education and vocation.

Tony:

“Early engagement and demonstrating how tradespeople are valued is a great way to encourage young people into trades whilst also showing them the connection between curriculum and the workplace. What better way could there be to make this connection than being outside in the fresh air, being part of creating a forest for the future”.

The company specialise in installing projects in school grounds and are unique by also providing teachers with access to an online resource that they have developed ‘in house’ called Project Link. This secure website provides teachers with access to information about projects that the company have installed in their schools to create new and exciting learning opportunities.

Tony Millar said

 “As you can see, we try to link teaching and learning to almost everything we do and think it is important for all businesses to help connect the education system with commerce in a very positive way”. He went on to say “We are always on the lookout for good community projects that involve schools, so if anyone has any projects in mind, please do contact us via our website www.M-LS.co.uk”.

Tony Millar who is also involved with a range of projects in Stockport that create and maintain green spaces and is a founder member of a community interest company called Vision Stockport due to launch in April which will support local businesses in Stockport Town Centre to promote future economic viability. www.visionstockport.org