On 17 November the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE, presented London’s 32 boroughs’ Mayors each with an English Oak tree sapling to mark Her Majesty, The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year and to promote The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. The ceremony took place in Hyde Park, by kind permission of The Royal Parks.

Thank you to the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE, for presenting me with this Oak tree sapling on behalf of Barking and Dagenham to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year.

Her Worshipful the Mayor of Barking and Dagenham, Cllr Edna Fergus, then planted the sapling that she was presented, at a small private ceremony, over in Mayesbrook Park on 19 November.

Cllr Fergus said: “Thank you to the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE, for presenting me with this Oak tree sapling on behalf of Barking and Dagenham to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year. I hope this encourages our residents to mark this special occasion, with a planting of their own and I look to forward to the celebrations that will take place. 

The Lord-Lieutenant said: "We have all been through a challenging time with the pandemic and Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee next year is the perfect opportunity for Londoners to come together and celebrate this remarkable milestone in our country’s history.

“My hope is that London’s Mayors will take their saplings back to their boroughs and hold tree planting ceremonies to mark The Queen’s 70 years of service and to encourage their local communities to plant more trees as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy, both as a thank you to Her Majesty for her unparalleled duty to the nation, but also to enhance their local environment. I urge all Londoners to get involved and plant a tree for the Jubilee.”