PRIMARY school pupils in Marksbury and Pensford, are helping to bring a new forest to life.

Working with woodland creation charity, Avon Needs Trees, they have planted trees, collected seeds and played an important role in a new fundraising film — all to aid the creation of the ‘Echo Wood’ in the Lower Chew Forest.

Students from Pensford Primary School and Marksbury Church of England Primary School decorated “nightglow” candle bags which feature in the film, launched last month to raise funds for Echo Wood in the Lower Chew Forest.

Each candle bag represents one of the 365 trees which will make up the woodland, and can be sponsored. Appearing alongside acclaimed Bristol artist Luke Jerram in the film, pupils from Marksbury discuss the importance of being amongst the trees.

Years 5 and 6 have also participated in workshops at Echo Wood to mulch newly planted hedgerows and conduct insect counts to monitor local species, and are set to plant trees there in early 2026.

Year 6 pupils, Wilf, Angela and Bert said: “We used the wheelbarrows to collect the mulch and spread it over the base of the saplings. We had lots of fun catching butterflies in nets and identifying them. We also completed a nature count, looking at the different species that visited certain flowers. We are really looking forward to planting some trees next term.”

Nearby Pensford Primary School has also been working alongside staff and volunteers at Avon Needs Trees for the past two and a half years. The school is within walking distance of Great Avon Wood, another of the charity’s new woodlands. Two Year 6 pupils, Emily and Natalya, were also thrilled to attend the launch of the Echo Wood project at Luke Jerram’s studio.

Pensford headteacher Warrick Barton said: “Our children have hugely enjoyed, and benefited from, our work with Avon Needs Trees. They have become more knowledgeable about their local environment and passionate about caring for it. Seeing the landscape start to change for the better, and understanding their part in that, has been very rewarding for them.”

The school has even become one of the first sponsors of a tree at Echo Wood, with an accompanying message for future school communities.

Emily Massey, CEO of the Trust, said: "It’s wonderful to see pupils at Marksbury and Pensford actively shaping their local environment. Through projects like Echo Wood, they’re not only understanding that small actions, such as planting and caring for trees, can leave a lasting legacy, but also experiencing firsthand the nurturing and learning benefits of being in nature."

Tom Le Fanu, head of engagement, communications and fundraising at Avon Needs Trees, said: “Thank you to both schools for all they’ve done for us and we hope that the amazing students are as proud of the new green spaces they're helping to create as we are to have had them involved. We look forward to welcoming students from these two wonderful schools onto site for many years to come.”