Mercian Labels is set to team up with pupils from local schools to plant the Mercian Labels Community Woodland in Burntwood, Staffordshire.

On 14 January 100 pupils from Holly Grove Primary School and Year 10 and 11 students from Chase Terrace Academy will join staff from Mercian to plant 420 trees as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. The land has been donated by Burntwood Town Council and Lichfield District Council and the trees themselves have been donated by the Woodland Trust.

Hugo Gell, Mercian Labels’ sales and marketing director, commented, ‘Social responsibility, engaging with the local community and sustainability are becoming increasingly important in the world of business these days, and we are already working with customers who are looking for more sustainable products, whether it be the materials used to make them, or where they are sourced.

‘We hope that our future talent will be increasingly found from within the local community, and from the young people, still in education, who will be planting trees on the day. Forward-thinking businesses also need to take some responsibility too for their local surroundings, and we hope that by planting this area of Community Woodland we will be providing a diverse and interesting area for education as well as recreation.

‘It is an especially happy coincidence that this event coincides with the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative in honour of her Platinum Jubilee. The team here at Mercian Labels have shown incredible passion for this project, of which we are very proud, supporting our commitment to our goals and values, as well as the wider community.

‘I would like to thank in particular Susan Woodward, Graham Hunt and Steven Lightfoot of Burntwood Town Council, and also the local community for their commitment to supporting this project.’