Tree Planting Ceremony Honors South Yorkshire Olympians and Paralympians

A tree-planting ceremony held at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park paid tribute to South Yorkshire’s Olympian and Paralympian medal recipients. Diver Yasmin Harper and Para badminton player Krysten Coombs, assisted by local schoolchildren, planted 17 saplings, representing each medallist from the area. Harper, who secured Team GB’s inaugural medal at the Paris Olympic Games (a bronze) alongside synchronised diving partner Scarlett Mew Jensen, commented, “When you see all these people come and help plant the tree for you it’s amazing and a real privilege to have that there.” Coombs, a bronze and silver medallist, further stated, “[Sheffield] is a big base for a lot of athletes so it’s an amazing place to be part of.” He elaborated, “We’ve got us, Para table tennis and the divers at Ponds Forge. GB boxing are here and wheelchair basketball used to be,” concluding, “It’s great to have that team environment.” Students from Oasis Academy in Shirecliffe assisted the medallists with the digging and planting. These students will be responsible for caring for the newly established trees in the coming months, with the aspiration of utilizing some of the fruit yielded in their cooking classes. Mayor Oliver Coppard utilized the occasion to reintroduce his Free Trees for Communities scheme, which provides tree-growing kits to members of the public. This initiative forms part of his objective to plant 1.4 million trees—equating to one for each resident of the county—with approximately 100,000 having been planted to date. He remarked, “This is about making sure there are trees everywhere across South Yorkshire.” He continued, “It’s good for biodiversity, it’s good defences against flooding, but most importantly it’s about making South Yorkshire the nicest place to live we can.”