A wet afternoon in London’s Fenchurch Street didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the gathered Lloyd’s representatives, City guests and local schoolchildren for the launch of Lloyd’s Trees in the City project.
Lloyd’s Chief Executive Richard Ward officially opened a new outdoor space for City workers and visitors that uses poetry to emphasise the importance of tackling climate change. It is the first part of a new Lloyd’s project to improve the environment in the Square Mile, and to take the message on climate change to new audiences and encourage individuals to think about the subject in a fresh way.
The initiative, in conjunction with the City of London and the charity Poet in the City, will sponsor three trees and has commissioned new poetry which forms part of the new site’s design.
Richard Ward said: “Trees in the City is a great example of what can be achieved when the City works in partnership with the Arts and the local community. This project demonstrates our continued commitment to improving our local environment and raising awareness of the importance of tackling climate change. We hope that this is just the beginning of a series of projects to improve the environment in the Square Mile.
“By using the poetry to take our message on climate change to schools, we hope to play a part in equipping the next generation to deal with this growing problem."
He was joined by one of the commissioned poets, Patience Agbabi, as well as local schoolchildren from Bethnal Green Technical College and Sir John Cass’s Foundation Primary School.
Patience, whose first collection of poetry, RAW, was published in 1995, is one of Britain’s leading poets, and is a frequent guest on television, including BBC children’s show Blue Peter. Patience performed two poems at the event.
Schoolchildren from nearby Tower Hamlets wrote ‘wishes for the environment’ on coloured tags that are attached to the trees, and two of the primary children attending read out their wishes at the event. The project will now take the new poetry to a number of Tower Hamlets schools to help students understand the importance of tackling climate change.
Graham Henderson, Chief Executive of Poet in the City, said: “Everyone is waking up to the dangers of global warming and environmental damage, and it is only right that poets and poetry should be contributing in an active way to communicating this crucial message both within and beyond the financial community. This is a bold artistic collaboration between a cutting edge charity and one of the City’s most famous institutions.”
