On Saturday 23 November, the first day of #NationalTreeWeek, members of Peterborough Sikh Community planted five trees to celebrate the 550th birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of the Sikh faith.

The tree planting took place in Nene Park on the north side of the river Nene near Orton Staunch and was the first tree planting event of several over the next few years to plant a total of 550 new trees to commemorate this 550th birthday. As well as Sikh community members present, including three generations of one family, Peterborough’s Mayor was also there and gave a speech thanking giving background to the importance of this anniversary and thanking Nene Park Trust and PECT for enabling this event. Staff from Nene Park Trust and PECT were also present to celebrate and help with the planting.

The future tree planting will continue along the north side of the river towards Bluebell Wood with two more planting events taking place before March 2020. The cost of the trees will be funded by the Sikh community’s own fundraising with support from PECT as part of their Forest for Peterborough project.

We are delighted that the Sikh community of Peterborough wanted to plant trees in Nene Park to celebrate the founder of the Sikh faith. These trees can also be enjoyed by our visitors for many years to come. Our new National Lottery Heritage Funded project, Peterborough’s Community Greenspace is likely to see more of this exciting work continue as we celebrate the many cultures and communities across Peterborough. We encourage community groups to contact us if you would like to join the celebrations at Nene Park.