Abbeydale Road Street Trees

Luke Rose is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Joel Gilbert.

Donation protected

Sheffield's Abbeydale Road is home to two primary schools, fantastic independent shops and businesses - but not a single street tree. We are a campaign group wanting to change that and plant street trees to combat the poor air quality which makes Abbeydale Road one of the city's air pollution hotspots. By raising £15k we hope to plant up to 30 trees and introduce other green improvements along a 1.2 mile stretch between Bannerdale Road and Mount Pleasant Park - transforming Abbeydale Road.

The new Sheffield Street Tree Strategy (introduced in the wake of the controversial tree-felling saga) allows for community groups to bring their own schemes forward for consideration and we hope to bring the community together to take ownership of street trees, raise money for tree-planting and care for trees once in the ground. We also hope to introduce other green improvements such as mini wildflower meadows, planters and parklets.

Our campaign has been established by a group of residents and is driven by local people and businesses.
Since the start of 2020 we have conducted detailed consultations along Abbeydale Road. We have spoken to more than 60 businesses of whom 94 per cent have indicated they are “supportive” or "very supportive" of a tree planting programme on Abbeydale Road. Our aim is to plant the right trees in the right places - species of suitable size for the location and which will be best for boosting biodiversity and combating air pollution.

Working with the council's highway contractor, Amey, we have identified 30 locations for potential street trees (subject to exploratory work) and remain in discussion with the council about where - and when - the trees could be planted.

We hope to raise the money by the end of October so the first trees can be planted this winter.

Rewards

As well as contributing to these potentially wonderful improvements on Abbeydale Road, we also have a couple of other great rewards for people donating towards the project. As modelled above, we have a shipment of the wonderful Abbeydale Street Trees t-shirts and will give a free t-shirt to anybody who donates £30 or over - we can deliver by bicycle locally. Please message us via gofundme with your details.

We are also making it possible to dedicate a tree to someone. A £500 donation would pay for a single tree - the estimate for Amey to put a new street tree in the ground. While we can't yet say where this tree would go in the 30 locations identified, if someone does donate £500 we would attach a plaque to the tree with their name or someone they wish the tree to be dedicated to.

With your help we can transform Abbeydale Road into a less polluted and more welcoming, green street for all.

Many thanks,

Abbeydale Street Trees team