At Avon Needs Trees, our ability to carry out impactful projects relies on the support of our corporate partners. Business donations play a crucial role in transforming our vision into reality, allowing us to purchase land for new, permanent woodlands and ensuring their ongoing maintenance. Without this vital funding, many of our projects simply wouldn’t be feasible. We had the opportunity to speak with Hazel Momberg from GCP Chartered Architects, a Bristol-based, employee-owned architectural practice and energy consultancy, to learn more about why they chose to partner with ANT.

How did you come across Avon Needs Trees?

We did a simple Google search for tree planting in our local area.

What motivated you to partner with Avon Needs Trees?

We wanted to reduce our impact on the climate and help improve the local ecosystem. This was also a good opportunity to get outside and back into nature as we often spend most of our working days behind our desks.

What do you like most about partnering with Avon Needs Trees?

Our offices are situated in Warmley, Bristol and because Avon Needs Trees focuses on creating permanent woodlands throughout the Bristol-Avon River catchment we feel proud to be giving back to our local area. The idea of planting trees that we and others can enjoy for generations to come is something we find very rewarding.

Do GCP have any Environmental, Social and Governance objectives and how does working with ANT support meeting them?

ANT supports our objectives in reducing our impact on the climate and improving the local ecosystem.

The GCP team have joined us for volunteering at both our Great Avon Wood and Hazeland sites. How did you find volunteering? Did it meet expectations?

We absolutely loved volunteering at both sites. We first volunteered at Pudding Brook in 2022 where we planted trees. It was very exciting to then return in 2024 to care for the trees and see how they had grown. At the Great Avon Wood we also planted close to 200 trees, and we’re returning for more!

Overall, our volunteer experiences with Avon Needs Trees have always been filled with fun and learning and are a great way for GCP to get out the office to enjoy our surrounding nature.

What was the most memorable part of volunteering?

Being wheeled around in a wheelbarrow by my colleagues maybe?! All jokes aside, we have so many good memories from the volunteer process, however the best one might be when you’ve finished the day and you look back at the field at all the work you’ve done. To see a once empty field now filled with trees that will one day become a beautiful woodland is a very rewarding experience (possibly like how we feel about the buildings we work on).

Did the team learn anything new?

Although the weather was close to freezing, it was interesting to learn that the cold climate is optimal for planting new trees.

Would you recommend it to others?

100%. This is why we try to volunteer every year!

We would like to thank GCP Architects for all their support, it makes a real impact to the work we do creating new, permanent woodlands at Avon Needs Trees. If you’re feeling inspired and would like to find out more about how your business can support us, head to our Business Supporters page.