National home care provider Walfinch has gone green by pledging to plant 10,000 new trees over five years – one for each carer it employs.

Walfinch Chief Executive Amrit Dhaliwal, announcing the Walfinch Goes Green initiative on the  Wal finch  website, says: “Every carer who joins us and each of our existing carers will be honoured by having a tree planted, funded by Walfinch. It’s a way to show that our commitment to sustainable, high-quality care extends not just to our carers, and our clients, but to the future of our planet.”

Rene Sonnekus, recently recruited as a carer by Tracy Lezar and Kathleen Plough, franchisee Managing Directors of Walfinch home care in Weybridge, Surrey, says: “I’m excited to be starting my new role as a carer, but even more so now that I know that Walfinch is doing this. I come from a farming background in South Africa and have long been interested in improving the environment – so much so that I studied environmental law.” 

Walfinch partnered with online global tree planting scheme  Tree app  for the initiative, with sustainability in mind. It only plants endemic and non-invasive native species, forbids monocultures (as they achieve no biodiversity) and ensures the land is owned by local communities in perpetuity.

Sustainability
The scheme supports projects around the world from Wales to The Americas, Africa and Asia, and Treeapp supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Rene Sonnekus says: “I love that this is a global initiative and benefits indigenous peoples. We need businesses to help build a sustainable environment and I am delighted to be joining a company that is taking action on this.”

Treeapp calculates that planting 10,000 trees over five years will absorb around 217 tonnes of CO2 annually (across the lifetime of the trees), while creating 19 workdays for local communities and re-foresting over 3,187 square metres of land each year.

The number of trees planted will be visible on the  W alfinch  website so new care team members will be able to see the effect when they are taken on.

Tracy Lezar of Walfinch Weybridge says: “As a keen gardener and lover of trees, I think this is a brilliant initiative. It’s a great way to celebrate members of our care team and welcome new ones.”