The Sikh Community are transforming a major Portsmouth roundabout with plants and trees

In 2019, Sikhs and the Scouts joined forces to plant 550 trees to mark Guru Nanak Devji’s birth on a major Portsmouth roundabout.

The event saw council representatives and leaders come together to see the first tree being planted and now, three years later, the trees have gone from strength to strength and are a metre high despite the drought over the summer.

There has been a planting of a further 1,000 spring bulbs this week to enhance the thriving environment on the Northarbour Road roundabout on the A27, and the event saw Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Councillor Hugh Mason with the Lady Mayoress Marie Costa, and city council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson there.

A member of the Sikh community, C S Chadha, said: ‘The whole idea is to really establish community harmony and to let other people know that there are other groups in the area, whether it is based on religion or not.

‘It went really well, we were very lucky with the weather and we were very pleased with the turn out and we had some of the city leaders come as well which was really nice because it brought the community together.

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‘It means that we are doing it to help the local community, we are helping the environment and we are doing it to help the land.’

It is also hoped that they will be able to obtain a plaque to honour and commemorate Guru Nanak Devji, who was the founder of Sikhism and was the first of ten Sikh gurus. He is the foundation of the Sikh religion and it is important to celebrate his birth.

The roundabout area is set to be blooming next spring and the community is hoping that are able to continue their work in bettering the environment, whilst also bringing people together and highlighting the Sikh community.

He said: ‘it is a continual process and we will see how the bulbs will come up next spring which will be very nice.’