A team of 60 volunteers from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) swapped their day jobs for heavy boots and protective gloves to spend two days working at The National Trust’s Hatfield Forest.
The volunteers, from the bank’s Payments Technology area, had the hard task of constructing 600m of post and rail fencing around some of Hatfield Forest’s most ancient trees in just two days. Two Wardens and six Forest Volunteers from Hatfield led and supported the 60 bank employees.
Henry Bexley, Head Warden at Hatfield Forest, explains why the fence is needed:
'The work was around three hectares of protected trees which are becoming too fragile for people to walk beneath them. The trees provide really rare habitats including bat roosts, lichens, mosses fungi and insects. This means that any remedial work to the trees is not feasible.
'The trees are rare surviving specimens planted in the early 1700s,' Henry continues. 'They are now coming toward the end of their natural lives, but this stage in a tree’s life can last for a further 100 or 200 years. RBS’s work protects the trees for as long as possible by fencing them off as a tree reserve. We have created three other wooded zones for our visitors and school groups, so people can still enjoy this magnificent medieval hunting forest.'
Ian Ruddock, Consultant at RBS, says:
'This exciting opportunity brought together people who work in different areas of RBS together with The National Trust, and benefits the community who use this historic Forest.'
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