Result
282%
Increase in Pledge to Plant registrations, from the initial target of 50
Result
965
Click-throughs to the signup webpage via a trackable bitly link
Result
289
Separate volunteers have worked across 19 planting sites
As part of Rossendale Borough Council’s commitment to reduce the borough’s carbon footprint, they made a pledge in a recently published climate report to plant a tree for every child in the borough over the next three years, creating Rossendale Forest. To succeed, that amounts to around 16,000 trees.
With the tree planting season only lasting between October and end of March/April, they need to plant around 6,000 trees a year for the next three years.
Rossendale Borough Council is one of the smallest councils in the country, with only 140 employees and a much smaller and limited budget compared to other councils. Diverting the workforce from essential services, such as refuse collection, was not a realistic option.
Rossendale Forest tree planting on Goodshaw Lane in Rossendale
To tackle the huge task of planting 6,000 trees each year, we decided the council needed to ask for help from local residents and volunteers. We saw the only way to fulfil the council’s pledge was having a pool of people to call upon who would be willing to help plant the trees.
We also felt that by having this level of community engagement, the Rossendale Forest initiative would have more meaning to Rossendale residents, and they would have a real sense of ownership.
Involving children and young people especially was a powerful message as they would be around to literally see the fruits of their labours.
We leveraged Rossendale Borough Council being part of PLanT (Pennine Lancashire Treescapes project) along with four other East Lancashire councils – Burnley, Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen and Pendle, all much bigger than Rossendale – who made a collective bid to the Forestry Commission for 40,000 trees.
The bid was successful, but due to supply chain issues, the trees were not delivered until the end of January, leaving only a very small window to plant the 6,000 trees before the end of the planting season.
The additional hands needed would now be more vital than ever and the target was set at recruiting 50 volunteers to sign up. We designed campaign-specific branding and a logo – plus the strap line ‘Pledge to Plant’ – and set up social media channels dedicated to signing up volunteers.
We linked up with a local firm who have produced the world’s first ever biodegradable non-plastic tree covers to protect the growing saplings, known as the BMP Tree Hugger™. They donated all the covers for one of the planting sites and can supply more at cost price to the council.
They said:
“What was achieved with this imaginative and creative campaign far outweighed our expectations both in terms of numbers and the time frame.
“To have gained more than 160 registrations in the first three months, almost 200 overall and have nearly 300 turn up to help us at the planting sessions, is testament to the power of a well-run, engaging campaign and what can be achieved when communities pull together.”
Neil Shaw, CEO of Rossendale Council
PRCA DARE NORTH WEST JUDGES
The results speak for themselves for this entry. A clear and well executed strategy delivering tangible results. I really liked the idea of bringing additional partners on board to boost the campaign’s sustainability credentials – a very nice thought.
CIPR PRIDE NORTH WEST JUDGES
COMMUNITY RELATIONS AWARD 2022
Massive achievement on a small budget which required the support of multiple organisations and community groups within the borough, as well as engagement and support from national authorities and local businesses. An already impressive target was smashed and the wider issue of the importance of carbon reduction commanded the attention of local broadcasters, impressed upon the RBC’s CEO, and united local communities behind a common cause.
