EALING residents are being urged to hand over their Christmas cards to the Broadway M&S as part of a green initiative. 

M&S has pledged to plant one tree for every 1,000 cards donated in store throughout the month of January as part of its commitment to the Woodland Trust.

More trees are needed in London as tree cover is just over 8%, compared to the UK average of 13%.

Carl Harrison, store manager at M&S Ealing Broadway, said: “This year at M&S we’ve been working hard to encourage our local customers to get involved and Spark Something Good – from fundraising, to volunteering, to recycling.

"Through our partnership with the Woodland Trust the small action of dropping your Christmas cards into store can help make a big difference in planting trees across the UK.”

Over the years the local community have taken the scheme to their hearts – with thousands of people including schools, community groups and businesses clubbing together collecting cart loads of cards.

Celebrities Dermot O’Leary, Jo Brand, Julia Bradbury, Hugh Dennis and Cerys Matthews are also backing this year’s Christmas card recycling scheme in a bid to see more trees planted in the UK.

The Woodland Trust’s Joanne Mathieson added: “Christmas is a time of year where we think about giving to others and this is great way that your Christmas gesture can keep on giving.

"Hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted thanks to the generous support of the public – creating beautiful habitats for people and wildlife to enjoy.

"We want this year to be a real cracker and are calling on the public to collect their Christmas cards, take them to their local M&S and help us plant even more trees.”

Special card collection bins will be located in M&S until 31 January 2017. Visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/cards for more information.