Gateshead retail complex Metrocentre is helping local schools with rewilding projects in an effort to offset some of the emissions generated by its staff travelling to work.
The new sustainability initiative, dubbed ‘Tree Buddies’, will involve the retail and entertainment centre partnering with several schools across the region to rewild their green spaces and plant trees.
Ryton Junior School, Bridgewater Primary, Swalwell Primary and Shotley Bridge Infants and Juniors were the first schools to engage with the initiative in 2023 – and to date, 50 trees have been planted, which Metrocentre has calculated as offsetting the carbon emissions from 400 staff journeys.
Metrocentre teams going into schools for rewilding projects provide presentations to engage pupils on tackling climate change and highlight how the tree-planting scheme can benefit the environment. More than 600 pupils have participated so far, with many more school visits planned from next month onwards.
The Tree Buddies rewilding projects come after Metrocentre installed 3,500 solar rooftop and car port panels on its site, which it has described as the largest solar panel array of any UK shopping centre. There are now more than 100 electric vehicle charging units at Metrocentre, too, with plans in place to increase this to 174 in the coming year.
Gavin Prior, centre director at Metrocentre, remarked: “We’re constantly looking for new ways to operate in a more sustainable way and participating in Tree Buddies is another example of this.
“Not only are we helping local schools to transform their outdoor spaces, but we’re reducing our impact on the environment at the same time. We know Gateshead has an ambitious plan to go zero carbon by 2030, so we are proud to be actively working towards this common goal by offsetting the carbon emissions generated by our staff travelling to and from work.”
Esther Wilson White, from Shotley Bridge Junior School, added: “The children were so excited to take part in such a beneficial project as we have been learning all about climate change recently.”
[Image credit: Graham Soult/CannyInsights:]
