City school’s fundraising means 500 new trees will be planted worldwide

Portsmouth High School (PHS) senior pupils walked from their school in Southsea to Eastney and back - a distance of 10k (around six miles).

Pupils dressed sustainably in home clothes, wearing outfits they already had or something purchased second hand or swapped with a friend.

They stopped along the way and bought ice creams and drinks from seafront vendors including the Southsea Beach Cafe and The Coffee Cup.The prep school girls joined other Girls' Day School Trust schools in holding a fundraising and awareness-raising day in aid of the charity.

Prep girls dressed in home clothes - but again, not anything new - with all pupils making a £1 donation to charity Just One Tree, who plant trees worldwide for the same amount of money.

The charity is a non-profit initiative to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and reverse biodiversity loss through global reforestation.

The charity was founded by a GDST alumna, Amanda Bronkhorst, to help restore the planet for future generations.

The charity supports established reforestation companies who plant in areas severely affected by mass deforestation such as Kenya, Madagascar, Haiti and Indonesia.

The GDST have already planted over 10,000 trees, removing 3146.53 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere.

PHS Environment Prefect, Keira, 17, said: ‘We are working with the GDST to give everyone a chance to become involved.

‘As deforestation is becoming more of an issue, this is an opportunity for everyone to give £1, get out for a walk and make a difference.’

For further details, visit /www.justonetree.life/