The big tree planting at Parliament Hill

YOUNG and old teamed up to plant a “mini-forest” at a secondary school in Highgate on Sunday.

The hard work with the spades at Parliament Hill School followed a successful fund-raising drive to pay for trees and hedges.

In total, £4,500 was raised – not least with help from Claudia Kretzchmar, a former wine collector who gave up drinking alcohol and auctioned of the contents of her stellar cellar.

Around 50 people turned up to help with the planting, including pupils – and their parents. Teachers mucked in too.

The BOMA Garden Centre generously lent 10 spades and so did Dream for Trees –a new local charity that aims to plant mini forests.

Ms Kretzchmar said: “It was fabulous to see the generations working alongside one another to make the school a better place. We managed to plant about 900 native trees and hedge plants and hope that this will increase biodiversity, improve air quality and shield the students from noise and traffic pollution.”