Film star digs in to join effort against climate change

Over 85 corporate & community volunteers, including actor David Bradley, helped plant 1,000 trees as part of a collaborative effort to create a wood in the fight against climate change.

Graduate Planet CIC, a recruitment agency with an environmental mission, teamed up with the volunteers to create a Honey Bee Wood on Friday, 1st December, at a forest garden near the Stratford Armouries run by the Forest of Hearts Charity.

"Glad to be part of the day. Inspirational people, making a difference."

David , who joined the volunteers in the tree planting, said: “I live here, and when I’m around it’s nice to be involved, especially in a project like this one, that involves young people. I just think it’s great that young people are aware of this, and are doing something about it.”

David, familiar to most as Filch from the Harry Potter movies and Walder Frey from Game of Thrones, has most recently been working on dubbing the Christmas Day special of Dr Who. He plays the first ever Doctor in the special, which airs on BBC One.

The planting project’s volunteers came from a number of different local businesses ranging from Jaguar Land Rover to NFU Mutual, Midcounties Co-operative, Calor, Cooperative Energy, the Box Factory, adi and Brewin Dolphin.

Ian Burrows, with the Birmingham investment company Brewin Dolphin, said: “It’s a fantastic charity, and it’s important for us to give back to the community as well.”

The event was a collaborative effort to combat climate change, and trees offer a practical solution to the problem. Kate Evans, the founder of Graduate Planet, said “At 13 per cent, the UK has one of the lowest rates of forest coverage compared to the 44 per cent average in Europe, but we’re working to change that.”

“Events like these raise people’s awareness of their ability to make a positive impact. Often the issue of climate change can feel insurmountable, when in reality it can be solved by businesses working together, taking small consistent steps and using their supply chains effectively. It’s essential that businesses are involved in this process, they have the power to create a sustainable future and in doing so they gain greater customer and employee engagement.”