Tree Dressing Day

A community nature celebration, Including a creative activity and a guided mindful walk. 25% goes to Friend of Lightoaks Park.

What is Tree Dressing Day?

Tree Dressing Day falls on the first weekend of December. It was initiated by Common Ground in 1990 and has grown to become much more than an expression of a love for trees. It is a chance for the whole community to gather and celebrate the leafy friends we all have in common. It is celebrated in many cultures around the world.

This event

This event includes a decoration kit (in person, contactless collection only from M6 area of Salford) and a live, guided mindful nature walk. If you're not local you can still join in by making a decoration in advance and joining us for the walk, decorating a tree of your choice. Creative activity, mindfulness and being in nature are all good for our mental health so this is a fun and relaxing way to take care of yourself.

How it works:

1. Before the day you can collect a decorating kit from Natalie and create something lovely to hang on the tree (more details below).

2. Then on the day you can join me at 11.30am at Lightoaks Park for a guided mindful nature walk via a live audio (using zoom, I'll email the link in advance). This will work a lot like listening to a podcast/music on your phone while walking and will last about 30 minutes. This way, we can all be doing the same activity in the same space at the same time but walking your own route and, of course, following social distancing guidelines. This will cultivate a real sense of community and shared experience. During the walk, as you pass the selected tree you can hang your decorations.

What's a mindful walk? It's a very simple and enjoyable activity; essentially it's about connecting to your senses to be in the here and now and notice your surroundings. Most people feel alert, present and calm after doing this. You do not need any prior experience and it is suitable for everyone.

3. Passers by will enjoy our decorated trees in the following days and weeks and you will have created a lovely memory.

The decorations

When you come to make your decorations take a moment to think about how trees and nature make you feel. What do you love about them? You might make a mindmap of ideas (see example above) or discuss this with your family/a friend. Then when you are ready you can make your decoration - use your kit but feel free to make anything else you like! Please use natural/environmentally friendly materials as much as possible.

Ideas for your decorations (see images below for examples):

• A word or phrase that represents how you feel about trees
• A beautiful design like a mandala or leaf pattern
• Natural materials like a dried leaf, painted or plain
• Colourful ribbons to tie around the trunk
• Strips of paper or labels with messages of hope and kindness on them

You can collect your kit from Natalie (address will be emailed to you after you've purchased your ticket) which will include:

• 2 wooden discs with string
• 2 dried leaves with string
• Some ribbon

You will need: felt tips or acrylic paint pens to decorate your leaves and wooden discs. You can make any other decorations you like if you're feeling creative - google or search pinterest for some ideas.

The tree: I've chosen a small tree in Lightoaks park for us to decorate as a community. It's a young Ginko tree near the big willow (see pic below). I've chosen this tree because we can easily reach the branches and Ginko's are a symbol of resilience and endurance. Did you know, 4 Ginko's survived the Hiroshima bomb in Japan and are still growing today! This year has been a tough one for many so let's absorb some of that Ginko energy by having a little celebration of this lovely tree.

I will add my decorations before we start the walk so it'll be really clear which tree it is when you walk past it.

25% of your ticket price will be donated to Friends of Lightoaks Park.