A.P.P.L.E. plans to maintain and develop the Tree Trail in the local park.

The first stage of the Acton Park Tree Trail was started in 2008 and completed in 2009 with artwork in 11 trees around the park. There has been a constant change as new pieces have been added and old pieces of artwork come down as their life comes to a natural end. There are always trees that generate ideas, particularly as the park is endowed with a very diverse and old collection of trees. New work keeps the trail alive and a constant surprise and source of interest to all those who use the park.

Pieces aim to engage the public both visually but also in an interactive way- a Tree Trail quiz, hidden treasure, and events such as decorating the Poppy Tree for Remembrance Sunday. The artwork made varies in character and has differing life spans. The whole trail expands and changes over time. A.P.P.L.E. wants to take this project from a local interest to attracting wider recognition, both for the artistic quality and the practice by which it was created.

We will be running 20 workshops across the Summer and Autumn term. These workshops will run from 2pm- 5pm on Saturdays during term time and weekdays during school holidays with the occasional after school time slot. For further details about the dates of these workshops, please check our website closer to start date of the project.

This event will be open to our children and young people, their families and to the local and wider community. We currently have eight pieces of artwork in Acton Park from the Tree Trail project out of 23 projects created in total. Some of these projects were only ever designed to stay for a short period of time, for example The Remembrance Day tree is only up for November, or the Mural Project on the building site boards which were removed after the building work was complete. The projects currently still up in the park are; Grandfather Tree, Goblin Tree, Marble Tree and Playground Art work, The Story Telling Chair, The Honour Chair, The Resting Place and The Snake Tree. As part of this project we would like to renovate The Goblin Tree, Snake Tree, The Honour Chair and Grandfather Tree. These are some of the oldest standing projects from the Tree Trail and have become a permanent fixture in the park. Any child who frequently visits Acton Park we be able to show you where these trees are even if they have not visited A.P.P.L.E before. We have previously renovated these trees every year after the winter frost but have been unable to for the last three years due to funding, and they are no longer the striking features of the park they once were. As well as renovating previous work we also would like to create a whole new tree to add to the trail.

The design idea for this tree will be created through workshops with local young people, children from John Perryn Primary School and local Artists to create a piece that will capture the imagination of every young visitor to Acton park. This work would be created through a series of 20 workshops running through the Summer and Autumn term. Young people would work with Artist and Volunteers at A.P.P.L.E to design and create this new tree, these workshops will be available to all members of the public and community on a drop in basis. After the renovation of the Tree Trail and the new tree is completed we hope to run a launch event inviting the public to follow our Tree Trail. Not only will they be able to view the art work currently displayed but we will have a temporary QR code in place allowing the public to scan trees in the park that were once part of the project and view photos on their smart phones of the previous work.

On completion of the tree works we plan to hold a celebratory event to celebrate and publicise our work. Everyone is welcome!

To view the full tree trail please visit www.i-m.mx/APPLETREETRAIL/Acton.

We are looking for Volunteers to help with our workshops. If you are a local artist and want to help young people create work as part of the Tree Trail we would love to hear from you. Dates for these workshop are not yet confirmed as we raise money for the project, to receive more information about volunteering once dates are confirmed please email vicki.appleplay@gmail.com with the subject ‘Volunteer Tree Trail’