festivals puts trees in Reading & Leeds

Mean Fiddler, promoters of The Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals have joined forces with Trees For Cities, Leeds City Council and Reading Borough Council this year to demonstrate their commitment to the local environments in which their festivals take place. Mean Fiddler has an ongoing commitment to environmental issues from green initiatives on site at festivals through to sourcing ethical products for its merchandising and works in conjunction with local residents and representatives to minimise environmental damage in the widest sense for the local community. Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Mean Fiddler Festivals, became a patron of Trees For Cities last year after initial discussions about this project.

Trees For Cities is an independent charity set up in 1993 to work with local communities on tree planting projects. Its aims are to tackle global warming, create social cohesion and beautify cities through tree planting, community education and training initiatives in urban areas.

The first phase of the collaboration will see a range of mature trees and saplings and a new hedgerow planted in the Leeds area around Bramham Park, the site of the Carling Weekend: Leeds Festival since 2002. The aim of these plantings are to improve the local environment for local residents and aid Trees For Cities in its core objectives. Further plantings will take place around the Reading site of Richfield Avenue later in the year.

Graham Simmonds, Chief Executive of Trees For Cities said of the initiative: "It's fantastic that support from the Mean Fiddler is enabling Trees for Cities to expand the charity's work into two new cities in the UK (Leeds and Reading), and to develop new partnerships with both Leeds and Reading Councils. Climate change is going to affect all of us over the coming years and we believe passionately in the need to work in partnership on practical steps that will help in the fight against global warming - tree planting is a very practical step and as well as impacting on climate change the trees will also beautify our cities for future generations."

Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Mean Fiddler Festivals added: “After being introduced to Trees For Cities as an organisation in late 2004, it was clear to me that their aims and desires fit my own and my team’s aims here at Mean Fiddler so much, that offering to produce an event for them as a gift was a no brainer. A very successful first outing for a 5km charity run was an activity introduction that I am sure will last a long time as will the trees that we are planting here in Leeds and in Reading. It is our pleasure to be associated with and to contribute to such a worthwhile and long lasting activity.”

Mean Fiddler is committed to improving and protecting the environment, and in recent years they have demonstrated this commitment through the car sharing scheme for The Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals that has drastically reduced the amount of cars entering each site and teamed up with Geldard’s coaches in Leeds to further reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the local area with a shuttle bus service to the Leeds site from the main rail station. 30% of Leeds Festival attendees used the shuttle bus service in comparison to 2% of passengers using public transport at major national airports. Recycling teams on site have drastically reduced the amount of waste created by festival goers over the weekend and all Mean Fiddler merchandise on sale at the festivals is ethically sourced.

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