Helen helps with hedge planting as charity nears target

CPRE Shropshire has now planted over two thirds of the hedgerow towards its target of 5.5km in the county this winter – thanks to the help of teams of volunteers including Helen Morgan.

Helen Morgan was among the team who took part in the latest hedge planting session in Weston Lullingfields, near Baschurch, on Saturday.

As well as providing shelter for livestock and helping with flooding issues, hedgerows provide corridors for wild insects, birds and small mammals in the Shropshire landscape.

New hedges are being planted on a mix of sites from smallholdings to farms and cemeteries to visitor centres.

All hedge plants are being bought locally in Shropshire nurseries.

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said:

“It was lovely to join CPRE and the great team of volunteers planting hedges, it’s fantastic the target is now within reach.

“I’m really grateful for all the hard work they put into looking after our local environment, and lots of wildlife will be really grateful too!

“Hedgerows provide homes for wildlife, keep soil healthy, reduce flooding and help tackle the climate crisis - so it's great we're getting more of them in North Shropshire.

“Planting them is really enjoyable so I encourage anyone considering volunteering to get stuck in.”

Sarah Jameson, project manager for the Hedgerow Heroes project said:

“We’ve had a busy winter planting new hedgerows and running hedgelaying training workshops in Shropshire and CPRE would like to say a huge thank you to all volunteers who have turned up in all weathers to help us get over 3.5km of hedgerow into the ground so far.”

As well as planting hedgerows this winter CPRE has been running a number of free hedgelaying and hedge management workshops.

There are still opportunities to help plant a hedge with CPRE, with upcoming dates available at cpreshropshire.org.uk/hedge-planting-dates

More information is available from Sarah Jameson at CPRE Shropshire, who can be contacted at admin@cpreshropshire.org.uk, or by signing up to CPRE’s newsletter for updates.