Trees for Cities appoints new chief executive

Talking about her appointment, Kate Sheldon said: 

“I joined Trees for Cities in 2004 and am immensely proud of the charity’s achievements to date; it is an honour and privilege to lead the organisation going forward. We will continue to collaborate widely across different sectors, offering nature-based solutions for businesses, creating opportunities that inspire young people to pursue green jobs, and designing more trees into our everyday lives. 

“Urban trees really are "magic machines". They suck carbon from the atmosphere, nurture wildlife, clean and cool the air that we breathe - and are strikingly beautiful besides. As we start the year with widespread reports of 2022 being the hottest on record, we know that now is the time for us all to ‘step up’ and do more together to halt climate change and reverse the loss of biodiversity

“Planting trees plants hope for the future! My hope is that future generations will grow up in the towns and cities of tomorrow among the thriving, nature-rich urban forests that we must plant today”.

Trees for Cities has worked with local communities, schools and businesses over 30 years to establish more than 1.5M trees in towns and cities across the UK and around the world. Its vision ‘Urban Trees for All, By All’ seeks to harness the power of mass community participation to enable and inspire direct local impact on a national and global scale. 

With 80% of the UK population now living in towns and cities, Kate will spearhead the next phase of the organisation’s ambitious three-year strategy, which puts nature-based solutions at the core of tackling the climate crisis, breaking down barriers to nature in some of the most deprived urban areas of the UK. 

In 2022, Trees for Cities engaged 21,410 people to plant 266,794 urban trees and deliver 60 school projects connecting kids with nature.