A local youth group has teamed up with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) to plant thousands of trees.

More than 40 volunteers from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) from Croydon, joined volunteers from across the region to plant 1,700 trees at Scotney Castle, Tunbridge Wells.

The tree planting session also forms part of a national campaign the AMYA is running in which it is hoping to plant 50,000 trees by mid December. They have already planted close to 40,000 trees this year.

Established in 1959, TCV has for more than fifty years helped hundreds of thousands of people each year to reclaim local green places across the UK.

Mubarak Shams, a local AMYA youth leader of Croydon and a volunteer on the day said: β€˜β€™It gives us all a great sense of pride that we can do our little bit to help beautify the local area. It is particularly important to us that we bring as many young people to these events as possible so that they can gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the environment.

''A major motivating factor for our members is the fact that Islam places great emphasis on taking care of the environment and particularly on the planting of trees.''

Based on information supplied by Farhan Qazi.