The lime, the Wych elm and wardrobe… Furniture store and woodland charity take a walk into the wood to celebrate ten years
A woodland was turned into a bedroom as the Woodland Trust and family-run fitted furniture company Hammonds marked ten years in partnership.
Every time a customer chooses Hammonds for a bedroom the company plants a tree in a Woodland Trust wood nearest to their home.
Since 2004 the partnership has seen over 62,000 trees planted and Hammonds has donated more than £750,000 through sales of ranges named after Woodland Trust woods, including Willoughby Wood in Leicestershire.
The partners celebrated the milestone with a unique habitat swap – bringing one of the special Hammonds Willoughby themed bedrooms to a wood.
Commenting on the anniversary chairman Richard Hammonds said: “We’re delighted to have supported the Woodland Trust for the last ten years. Britain’s woodland not only provides enjoyment and beauty for all of us, but is also incredibly important to our environment. Trees offer shelter to wildlife, help to stabilise soil, and provide oxygen, all while offering a wealth of invaluable building materials that are of the utmost importance to our society.
“Our partnership with the Woodland Trust is at the heart of everything we do. As a family business, heritage and the environment are vitally important to us and that’s why we’ll continue to support the Trust and always ensure that all our materials are responsibly sourced.”
Beccy Speight, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, said: “It is tremendous to see how much the partnership has achieved over the last ten years and what better way is there to celebrate than by bringing a bit of magic to a wood? We may not have had a lion and a witch but we did have the lime, the Wych elm and the wardrobe!
“Woods are the lungs of the Earth and partnerships such as this with Hammonds are vital to the work we do in creating and conserving woodlands across the UK. We want to say a huge thank you to Hammonds.”
During the course of its partnership with the Woodland Trust the trees that Hammonds has planted have helped to create habitat for some of Britain’s best loved native species. For examplea robin’s territory is about 0.55 hectares on average, so with more than 62,000 new trees planted, this is equal to habitat coverage for almost 100 robins! Young woodland provides a flush of annual and herbaceous plants which support insects and other invertebrates which in turn provide food for birds. As it develops young woodland can be important in supporting a number of bird species, including many which have been in decline on the wider countrysidesuch as tree pipit, willow warbler and garden warbler. Open areas within new woodland can also be important for butterflies such as small copper and small heath.
Hammonds Furniture has also announced a partnership with celebrity interior designer Julia Kendell who will be working with the brand over the next 12 months.
Julia said: “I’m delighted to be kicking off my partnership with Hammonds by helping to celebrate 10 years of its partnership with the Woodland Trust. Protecting our environment is incredibly important to me and one of the main reasons for my decision to work with Hammonds is their continued commitment to this fantastic charity and to using responsibly sourced materials to create their fitted furniture ranges.”
For more information about Hammonds Furniture visit: www.hammonds-uk.com and for more information on the partnership click here.
