Thank you for supporting our 2026 Tree & Plant Appeal

This spring, we launched our 2026 Tree & Plant Appeal with a target of £30,000 / $39,500 USD to help us grow and distribute trees and plants, both ornamental and productive, to families and communities living in refugee and internally displaced people’s camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, we raised £18,074 / $24,189 USD. We are very grateful to our match funder, who wishes to remain anonymous, for matching these donations and for agreeing to extend the match funding beyond spring, through 31 August. This gave people more time to contribute and have their donations matched.

With the match funding, the total raised through the appeal reached £36,148 / $48,378 USD, exceeding our original fundraising target.

We’re also incredibly grateful to everyone who shared our appeal and helped us reach new supporters. A special thank you to Michelle Woo at Hearts & Spades, Lottie Delamain and Andrew Timothy O’Brien for helping us spread the word and connect the appeal with new audiences.

Growing and distributing plants

Funds raised through the appeal will support the next stages of our gardening programmes, helping us grow and distribute plants to families and communities.

Our gardening teams grow trees and plants from seed in our polytunnel nurseries, caring for young plants until they are ready to be distributed to families and planted in community spaces. The nurseries produce a mix of ornamental and productive plants, including those that can provide food for families.

Garden facilitators work alongside residents, providing plants and practical gardening support as families establish and maintain their gardens.

Newroz is one of the residents who has received plants and support through this work. Her garden in Gawilan camp is an example of what can grow from this support.

“I call it ‘my country’s garden’. When I sit there, I feel like I am in Syria.”

When Newroz arrived at Gawilan camp after fleeing the war in Syria, the land outside her shelter was bare. With seeds and trees from Lemon Tree Trust, she transformed it into a thriving garden with trees, flowers and vegetables.

Today, her garden provides food, shade and a place to connect with memories of home.

Watch Newroz share what her garden means to her.

Filmed by Ronak Qewas, a journalist from Kobani, Syria, who was forcibly displaced by war in 2015. She studied at Salahaddin University’s College of Arts and lives in Gawilan.

What happens next

The funds raised through the appeal will be invested in seeds and nursery production, plant distribution and the practical support needed to establish and maintain gardens.

The work supported by the appeal will continue beyond the fundraising campaign itself. Our teams will continue growing plants in the nurseries and working with families and communities as new planting projects get underway.

We will share updates as the next phase of planting and distribution progresses.

Thank you to everyone who donated, shared our appeal or helped us reach new supporters. We are very grateful for your support.