Walfinch home care celebrates carers with 10,000 trees

The Walfinch Goes Green initiative will plant a tree for every carer it employs in a plight for greater sustainability

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.

The Walfinch Goes Green intiative was announced by chief executive Amrit Dhaliwal on the company website.

“Every carer who joins us and each of our existing carers will be honoured by having a tree planted, funded by Walfinch,” wrote Dhaliwal. “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, a carer who has just joined Walfinch in Weybridge, Surrey, said: “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 Treeapp for the initiative. The organisation 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.

 
Treeapp supports projects around the world from Wales to The Americas, Africa and Asia. It also champions the global UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Sonnekus said: “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) and re-forest more than 3,187 square metres of land each year.

The number of trees planted will be visible on the Walfinch website so new care team members will be able to see their impact.

Tracy Lezar, managing director at Walfinch Weybridge said: “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.”

For information about Walfinch home care services across the country, visit: www.walfinch.com or call: 020 4531 8484.