Strictly pro swaps her dancing shoes for gardening gloves with Duke of Edinburgh’s Award stars at Wandsworth school

The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a UK-wide tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee

• As a QGC Friend, DofE is inviting its hundreds of thousands of participants and volunteers to get planting

• Strictly star Karen Hauer joined young people at Burntwood School in Wandsworth to kick-start the DofE’s involvement by planting their own tree.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) has been announced as an official ‘Friend’ of The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) – and is inviting its hundreds of thousands of participants and volunteers to “plant a tree for the Jubilee”. 

Strictly star Karen Hauer joined young people at Burntwood School in Wandsworth to launch the DofE’s involvement. Karen met with 15 students who are currently doing, or have done, their DofE to help them plant a bay tree in the school’s grounds. 

The QGC – created to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 – encourages people all over the UK to play their part to enhance the environment and make their local areas greener by planting trees in celebration of Her Majesty’s 70 years of service. 

The DofE is inviting its hundreds of thousands of participants, Leaders and supporters to get involved and make a positive impact by planting a tree in their community.  

Helping the environment is a key priority in the DofE’s Youth Manifesto – a series of policy ideas developed in collaboration with more than 2,000 young people to help improve their lives in the wake of the pandemic. 

The DofE’s CEO Ruth Marvel said:“We know that young people doing their DofE are passionate about taking action to protect our environment and contributing to a greener world. 

“The Queens Green Canopy gives us all a chance to make a positive sustainable change in our community. If just some of our amazing participants, volunteers, supporters and staff all over the UK decide to get involved, together we could make a huge difference and leave a lasting legacy.” 

Karen Hauer, said: “I’m thrilled to visit Burntwood School to launch an exciting partnership between The Queen’s Green Canopy and the DofE.  

“These two special Royal charities are joining forces to inspire the country to get involved in the campaign to “plant a tree for the Jubilee”. 

“Planting a tree is something we can all do to celebrate The Queen’s 70 years of service and also help the environment. The Queen is amazing and planting trees is a lovely way to mark this special occasion.  

“I was inspired to meet young people from Burntwood who are doing their DofE. I had fun planting a Jubilee tree with the help of these fantastic young people. I know they will go on to great things!” 

Dan Rex, CEO, The Queen’s Green Canopy, said: “We are delighted to announce the DofE as a ‘Friend’ of The Queen’s Green Canopy. Young people are key to creating a sustainable future and with the involvement of the DofE we look forward to encouraging as many people as possible to plant trees across the UK in support of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.” 

The QGC is encouraging tree planting during the official planting season, which is from October to March. Tree planting will commence again when the tree planting season starts in October 2022, through to the end of the Jubilee year.  

All Jubilee trees can be uploaded to the interactive QGC Map which will create a digital record of the green canopy of tree planting projects growing across the nation.