On Sunday 30th October Geoff Cole, Chairman of Birmingham Trees for Life and BCS Trustee, and Sue Griffith, Birmingham Trees for Life committee member were awarded The Queens Awards for Voluntary Service at a ceremony at the Birmingham Hippodrome.
The award was presented by the Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands, John Crabtree ,OBE, on behalf of her late Majesty ,and was in recognition of contributions to the environment and tree planting. Geoff was awarded in particular for his role in setting up Birmingham Trees for Life and subsequent dedicated service with the organisation.
Geoff and Sue were awarded with one of the pots from the Tree of Trees sculpture created by Heatherwick Studios and erected by them outside Buckingham Palace. The sculpture consisted of a sculpted tree with 350 pots, each containing a sapling tree. At the end of the celebrations the sculpture was taken down, and Her late Majesty indicated the saplings should go to tree planting organisations, and the pots should be awarded to individuals who had made a significant contribution to the environment and tree planting during their lifetime.
Congratulations to Geoff and Sue for this incredible achievement.