
Becky Brown will be at the AM Social Group on Tuesday 5th December!
1st December 2023
One Punch Campaign
1st December 2023Our Strength is Our Connection – Trees of Hope.

Do you enjoy crafting?
If so, join in with the Our Strength is Our Connection project which are launching their Trees of Hope themed activity which is focused on HOPE.
The idea is to decorate or create trees around the theme of hope (which goodness knows seems in short supply right now), to go on show between Saturday 20th January and Sunday 11th February 2024. To turn this message of hope into action, they will then plant one tree for every tree decorated / created. The trees will be planted together in one location, with a tree planting event scheduled for Saturday 24th February 2024 (exact time and location tbc).
* Dates *
They are encouraging people to set their trees up on 20th January 2024, with decorations coming down on 11th February 2024. There is, however, some give in this – effectively, so long as the decorations are up for at least this period of time, they can go up a little earlier and be taken down a little later.
They will produce a downloadable list of trees and their locations to accompany this activity, which will be made available on their website. That’s also why it’s important that the trees are at least decorated for the above period, to avoid visitor disappointment. To be able to produce this list in time for the official start date, the deadline for registering a tree is 5th January 2024.
The central tree planting event is scheduled for Saturday 24 February and will be coordinated by Karen Wood from Down to Earth, who are kindly supplying the trees. Exact location and times will be confirmed nearer the time. In addition to the central event, Down to Earth will host a Tree Open Day on Saturday 27 January 2024 for anyone who would like to plant their own tree. Details on how to book on this event will be made available nearer the time.
* Theme *
They have chosen to focus on hope, both because it seems in short supply full stop, but particularly in the dark winter months, and because they believe hope is essential for change. There are many different ways of interpreting this theme – you could choose to use one particular symbol of hope, only messages of hope, or just mix it up. If you’re unsure whether what you’re planning to do fits in with the theme, just ask.
Other than that, all they ask is that on the ‘tree identifier’ to go with your tree (see below), you include a message of hope on behalf of the creator(s) of the tree.
* Trees *
Choose your tree wisely! Whether it’s indoors or outdoors, real or artificial doesn’t matter, but do ensure that:
- you can decorate it safely,
- it can be viewed by the general public at least some of the time, free of charge, and
- you have the tree owner’s permission.
If you’re planning on using a Hull City Council-owned tree, let us know, as they can do a bulk permission request once we know where all the trees are. If you are planning to use a council-owned tree outside of Hull, please ensure you obtain permission from the relevant council. If you’re using a tree on private land, obviously ask permission from the owner.
They know from experience that it can be difficult to find a tree that meets all the above criteria, especially the first one. Therefore, if you wanted to create a tree shape on your (school) fence or on your window instead, that’s grand too.
Each tree will be accompanied by a ‘tree identifier’, containing the name(s) of the group(s) or individual(s) that created it, as well as their message of hope. They will produce a template for you to complete nearer the time, which you can then print, laminate (if required) and attach to your tree.
* Joining in *
If you’d like to do a tree (or several), there are several ways of letting them know:
- The easiest way is to join their ‘Our Strength Is In Our Connection’ Facebook group, and leave a comment on the Featured Post at the top of the page, stating
- organisation, group or area you’re representing,
- roughly where your tree(s) is/are going to be (exact location to be confirmed by 5 January 2024).
- You can also leave a comment to this effect on the pinned post on X (@osiioc).
- Alternatively, you can email them these details at strengthinconnection2@gmail.com.
If you’d like to join in but aren’t affiliated with a particular group and would like to find others to work with, let them know and they’ll try and link you up.
For more on this project, click here.