More than 30 staff from banking group have planted more than 500 trees in Greater Manchester, including in Bury.

NatWest Group workers visited Bury and Denton in Tameside to plant the trees as part of the bank’s conservation efforts.

The event is just one of a series the group are hosting, and it’s hoped that almost 200 NatWest staff will volunteer to plant trees across 14 different locations.

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Staff from NatWest offices and branches went along to Walmersley Golf Club and Denton Golf Club over three days in February for the tree planting.

The trees were planted at these sites as part of a strategic planting plan for Greater Manchester to increase habitat for wildlife, improve the biodiversity of the area and help tackle climate change.

All sites were selected by The Conservation Volunteers partner organisation, Greater Manchester’s community forest City of Trees, who are supporting the planting of millions of trees across the city region.

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The Conservation Volunteers groups works with NatWest to source volunteers to deliver substantial environmental projects across the UK.

Tree programme manager at The Conservation Volunteers, Joe Coles, said: “Trees provide a host of benefits for people and wildlife alike.

“Cleaning the air we breathe, improving our physical and mental health, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to reduce the impacts of severe weather events, and providing habitat for thousands of species of plants and animals.

“What better way to combat the climate and biodiversity crises than planting trees in our towns and cities?

“And thanks to our partnership with NatWest, we’re doing this at scale across the UK through the NatWest Forest.”

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Senior relationship manager at NatWest, Charlotte Furnivall, who organised the north ‘Treeathlon’, said: “The tree planting initiative is a fantastic way for colleagues from the North who might not work together or know each other to get together and build relationships in the great outdoors, while doing something positive for the local area and the environment.

“It was such a rewarding day for everyone involved.”

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