Andover Trees United Founder, Wendy Davis awarded by the Prime Minster
Picture credit: Sean Dillow/Andover Advertiser
Our founder, Wendy Davis, who has led a drive to plant thousands of trees and improve conservation within the local community has today, 27 October, received Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s daily Points of Light award.
Wendy Davis, an ex-Primary School teacher, founded ‘Andover Trees United’, a volunteer-led group working with schools, businesses and local authorities to improve access to natural spaces and promote wildlife conservation. Through Wendy’s ‘Harmony Woods’ project, children and young people in the community have turned 12 acres of land into a natural urban woodland with over 8,000 trees and 40 species of wildflowers so far planted in its dedicated wildflower meadow. The organisation has also raised over £110,000 to build an off-grid, sustainable, field-study base and volunteer room, to be constructed by local carpenters who will match the building to its surrounding landscape.
Congratulating Wendy on her award from the Prime Minister, Kit Malthouse, MP for North West Hampshire, said:
"Hearty congratulations to Wendy on her Points of Light award. Her selfless work to reforest the borough will mean future generations of Andoverians will be blessed with plenty of glorious public woodland. In particular, her work with local schools has connected many hundreds of children with the environment and taught them the part we can all play in keeping Test Valley beautiful. Well done Wendy and thank you."
Wendy said:
"It is wonderful for the work of 'Andover Trees United' and the unstinting efforts of the charity's amazing volunteers to be acknowledged in this way. Thank you, Points of Light for recognising the Harmony Woods Project and the thousands of children who have come together, with the support of their schools, to create this new wood where people can work in harmony in nature."
Wendy is the 1774th person to receive the Prime Minister’s UK daily Points of Light award, which was first launched in April 2014 to recognise outstanding individuals making a difference where they live. Each day, someone, somewhere in the country is selected to receive the award to celebrate their remarkable achievements, including hundreds of volunteers who have been recognised for how they have served their communities through the Coronavirus pandemic.