Green fingered cadets from 2438 (Bishop Ullathorne) Squadron Air Cadets teamed up with Whitefriars Housing Group to put their gardening skills to use on Saturday 6 March by planting 60 trees and 60 bushes on a Bell Green housing estate.

The cadets were taking part in a planting scheme in partnership with The Woodland Trust, using land provided by Whitefriars, to improve the environment for local residents.

The Woodland Trust donated trees and hedging plants to encourage the cadets to learn about, and engage in, woodland conservation. This initiative is part of the Trust's Tree for All campaign, which aims to involve two million children in planting 12 million trees.

Over the course of the morning the cadets planted 20 silver birch, 20 rowan and 20 wild cherry trees as well as 60 hedgerow plants on land in Purcell Road .

Cadet Andrew Reed who helped out with the planting thoroughly enjoyed the experience and can't wait to come back to the site to see the trees and hedge row plants once they have grown.

The planting event was coordinated and organised by the squadron's event organiser Roni Tillman who admitted finding the land to plant the trees on was not an easy task. She said “Whitefriars Housing Group has been fantastic. They have pulled out all the stops to find suitable land for the squadron, which they didn't need to do. The cadets have had a fantastic time planting the trees and they look forward to seeing them fully grown in years to come.”

As well as the beneficial effects for the environment, the cadets can also use the planting experience as part of their community qualification in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme which they are participating in.

Kelly Lewis, Whitefriars' Bell Green estates service manager, said: “We are delighted to be working with the air cadets to deliver improvements to Purcell Road .

“It's great to see young people taking pride in local communities and this is just one example of how working in partnership can improve neighbourhoods in creative ways.

“We hope local residents will enjoy the new trees for many years to come.”

Tree planting is only one of the many events taking place to celebrate 150 years of the cadet movement.

For more information about the Cadet150 celebrations in 2010, or to find out how you could join or support the cadet movement, visit www.cadet150.org