Several new trees have been planted at Stepping Hill Hospital, as part of a partnership project to both improve the hospital site, and to help support the journey to Net Zero carbon emissions.

The trees were planted by City of Trees, a Community Forest charity dedicated to planting new trees across the Greater Manchester area. They plant trees for people to create better, greener places; to boost health and wellbeing; to enhance green skills; and to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergency.

The planting was funded through Defra’s Northern Forest programme and supported with additional investment provided by Stericycle, who are responsible for collecting and processing all clinical waste produced in the trust. As part of the contract they are supporting the trust to deliver social value in line with their Corporate Social Responsibility commitment; with the planting as part of this.  

John Graham, Deputy Chief Executive of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust which runs the hospital, joined in the planting which took place at several places across outside areas of the site, including near the restaurant, maternity, Pinewood education and training centre, and car park areas. The new trees are mixture of native (e.g. Common Hawthorn) and ornamental (e.g. Persian Ironwood) trees that have been chosen with the mindset of ‘right tree, right place’.

Trees play an ever-more important role in addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency. They create healthier, happier communities, tackle the climate crisis head on, reconnect us to our natural world, and provide essential habitats for wildlife. Trees and woods ensure our urban areas are economically, socially and environmentally more sustainable and resilient.

As well as improving the hospital site environment over the long term, these will form a small part of the trust’s Green Plan to sequester (meaning capture and store) their carbon emissions; aiming to reach Net Zero by 2040. These new trees are estimated to sequester around 320,000 kg of CO2 gas over their lifetime, equivalent to the emissions caused by an average car driving over 15,000 miles.

The trust is currently developing a new Green Plan to detail how they will meet our net zero targets and what actions will take place over the next 3 years.  

Grace Lee, Standards Officer at City of Trees (fourth from left on the photo), said: “We have the funding for trees and woods and so finding suitable locations for them to be planted is a priority of ours. We’re pleased to be working with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust to identify the best place for the new trees to be planted so their benefits can be enjoyed by hospital visitors and patients for generations to come.

We would encourage any other landowners in Stockport to get in touch about planting trees on their land to help create a greener, more climate-resilient Stockport.”

Nigel Dussoye, Stericycle`s Account Manager (seventh from left), said: "For decades, Stericycle has kept our communities safe, protecting community wellbeing and our planet.  With this project, we`re taking our environmental commitments into the heart of Stepping Hill Hospital and making investments in today so we can protect our tomorrow.  We`re really excited to see the first stages of our local partnership spring into life." 

John Graham, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust (fifth from left)  said: “It was a pleasure to support the planting of these new trees, which will help to make Stepping Hill Hospital a brighter and greener site in the future, and I’d like to thank both City of Trees and Stericycle for their role in helping it happen.

These new trees are also a small part of our much bigger Green Plan to reduce our carbon emissions and achieve Net Zero, which is so important both for the health of local people, and the broader national strategy of reducing the impact of climate change.”