On the 10th June 2021, the anniversary of Duke of Edinburgh’s birthday, 11 schools and youth organisations throughout Greater Manchester will be planting a tree to celebrate the memory and living legacy of His Royal Highness.
The tree planting celebration is organised by the Lord Lieutenant in partnership with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) Greater Manchester Team. The 11 diverse organisations, covering all boroughs of Greater Manchester, run DofE for their young people, supporting them to build the skills, resilience, and self-belief to do anything, achieve anything and overcome anything life throws their way.
All 11 trees, gratefully donated by City of Trees, will be planted by young DofE participants, and 65 Blue Bell seeds scattered at the base of each tree to represent 65 years of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Those taking part are:
- The Hamlet, Wigan
- Blessed John Henry Newman RC College, Oldham
- Eden Girls Leadership Academy, Manchester North
- The Manchester Grammar School, Manchester South
- Woodhey High School, Bury
- Kingsway Park High School, Rochdale
- Rivington & Blackrod High School, Bolton
- The Kingsway School, Stockport
- Manor Academy, Sale
- The Deans Youth Centre, Salford
- All Saints Catholic College, Tameside
The tree planting is one of a host of initiatives throughout Greater Manchester to celebrate The Duke’s remarkable DofE legacy.
The Greater Manchester Lieutenancy and associated doners are sponsoring 1,500 Bronze DofE places to help licence holders within Greater Manchester to support marginalised young people to take part in the DofE, including young people facing financial hardship, social exclusion, or those that need specialist support to do their Award, such as young offenders or young people with special educational needs or disabilities.
A further 1200 trees will be planted later in the year to celebrate the life of The Duke.
Helen Foster, the DofE Director for the North, said: “Young people are facing the toughest challenges, to their mental health and future prospects, and the DofE has never been more needed. By celebrating our Founder’s birthday and HRH’s exceptional legacy we celebrate the amazing achievements of every young person who is doing or done their DofE. I thank every organisation that has contributed to young people’s success and look forward to working in partnership to realise our new strategic ambition to give one million more young people the opportunity to do their DofE in the UK by 2026. I’d also like to say a massive thank you to Sir Warren Smith, Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester for his generous support of young people and continued commitment to the DofE.”
The Lord-Lieutenant said: “The Greater Manchester Lieutenancy are very pleased to be able to support this important initiative for young people. For over 60 years The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme has created a unique opportunity for young people to enhance themselves and gain self-confidence in a way that will support them for the rest of their lives”.