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3rd Aug 2020
At Duo we’re fully committed to building a sustainable business in a way that not only satisfies the needs of our customers, but created a positive influence on our people, our community, our partners and our planet.
One of the ways we are doing this is through trees! Trees are an essential part of the carbon ecosystem and they help to combat complex environmental problems such as flooding, air quality and global warming.
Last year we partnered with Greater Manchester City of Trees to help transform underused grounds of the city by planting 640 of trees to make a real lasting difference to the local area and the planet, for many years to come.
Taking it back to the beginning, in August the Duo team headed over to Abbotts Community Primary School in Collyhurst, Manchester which is just 1 mile from Duo HQ where they removed over 200square metres of bramble and scrub was removed from the forest school area.
In December, the perfect time for planting trees, the Duo team and a group of our clients returned to the school to create a small orchard, plus trees and shrubs to provide a barrier to the road. This provides a great ecosystem for the children of the school to enjoy and also helps to clear the air they breathe.
Miss Gilmore and Year 4 from Abbott Primary School commented:
“Thank you to Duo UK for funding the activity in our school and for all of their team’s efforts! The children in Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. All of the staff who hosted the activity were extremely knowledgeable and gave the children the opportunity to ask and answer questions throughout. It was really good to see the children in a different environment and be so interested in something; lots of the children said they would like to plant trees for a job, when they grow up. Also, a child with additional needs who often finds it difficult to access the National Curriculum completely thrived in this environment and this was great to see. Thank you again.”
Trianna Angele, Projects Officer at City of Trees commented:
“The events we undertook with Abbotts Community Primary School and Duo were fantastic, a really proactive company with a real make-a-difference attitude! There were some very good feedback messages from the teacher and the pupils that came out on the planting days.
Many of the children had not undertaken any work such as tree planting or digging before so they were very involved. They were fascinated by the creatures that lived in the ground and many were asking how the trees helped other insects, birds and animals.
The woodland they were planting they were planting was a native broadleaved woodland so the school will be able to have bug-hunts and outdoor learning sessions about UK wildlife in urban areas. Something that not many inner-city schools have the chance to do.
The hedge that Duo helped to plant will act as a visual screen to the public footpath that runs beside the school. Due to the antisocial behaviour that occurs here this screen will allow future children at the school to enjoy the outdoor area in a safer environment. Something they could not do beforehand. I don’t think that without community-minded companies like Duo and their donation, time and effort, the work needed to create a safer environment at the school would not have been achieved.
The clearance work that was needed before any tree planting took place was the big challenge. That was serious hard graft and not for the faint hearted – brambles up to 7ft high and a woodland in much need of thinning and selected trees felling. The team at Duo took all the new skills and tool-use sessions on board and accomplished an amazing amount od work. All with a smile!
The staff that joined both events from Duo were fantastic! Really enthusiastic and really committed to getting the job done, it was great to work with such a proactive company and also amazing to see them achieve so much with just two days! Real green team!”
For more information about Duo’s partnership with City of trees head over to our sustainability page.