JT Atkinson has confirmed a further three-year commitment to supporting nature recovery across the Yorkshire Dales, becoming Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust’s first Community Conservation Champion.
Building on five years of successful collaboration with the charity, the Middlesbrough-based business will continue investing in projects that restore habitats, support wildlife and connect people with the landscape.
During the partnership’s first phase, the family-run builders’ merchant’s colleagues and customers have helped deliver a range of practical conservation initiatives across the Dales, including:
Nearly 100 JT Atkinson volunteers planting almost 4,000 trees
Supporting the development of the Seed to Sapling project, helping community groups grow tree saplings from locally sourced seed
Funding 88 outreach visits enabling people from diverse and often vulnerable backgrounds to experience the Yorkshire Dales
Supporting woodland management work to improve biodiversity in young woodlands
Helping fund woodland traineeships, providing 12-month placements to address skills shortages in the woodland sector
This month, volunteers from JT Atkinson planted more than 1,000 trees in a day at Ainderby Steeple near Northallerton, helping to create a new woodland for future generations.
Through its renewed commitment, the merchant will continue working with local communities and customers to support nature recovery projects across the Dales. Planned work will include creating new wildlife habitats, restoring meadows and woodlands, and supporting initiatives that protect threatened bird species by installing replacement nesting sites when heritage buildings are retrofitted.
MD Jamie Atkinson said: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and continue our commitment to protecting the landscapes that mean so much to communities across the region. Over the last five years, we’ve seen first-hand how these projects restore habitats and help wildlife recover across the Dales.
“We’re especially proud that our support has helped young people access training and employment in the woodland sector.”
Jamie continued: “But it’s about more than funding. Our colleagues have gained huge fulfilment from getting involved directly through tree planting, woodland management and other hands-on conservation work.”
Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust works with businesses like JT Atkinson to deliver landscape-scale conservation projects across the region. Richard Hore, Development Officer (Corporate) at YDMT, said: “JT Atkinson have been an invaluable partner over the last five years. Its continued commitment will enable us to expand projects such as Homes for House Birds, Seed to Sapling and Hay Time, helping wildlife recover and landscapes thrive across the Dales.
“Long-term partnerships like this allow us to plan ambitious projects with lasting impact for people, landscape and wildlife.”
Main image: JT Atkinson Marketing Manager Ami Blackburn plants a sapling in a newly created woodland at Ainderby Bottoms near Northallerton.
