A MENTAL health charity and technology company have collaborated to complete a mammoth tree planting project.

Rossendale based mental health charity Shiva Trust & Haslingden based MY Total Office Solutions are planting 1,500 trees on the 26-acre farm where Shiva Trust operate.

The trust uses the land as a sanctuary for rescued animals, and offer support to people struggling with their mind, through their mental health and well-being courses.

Because of the pandemic, Shiva Trust have been forced to overhaul their services to adapt financially but also ethically, with an ever-growing need for their services.

Charity manager, Anand Ennis Cole said: "We’ve been itching to get started. Planting trees is so therapeutic and calming, which is a perfect activity for anyone struggling with mental health related illnesses."

Trees are an important element of this for Shiva Trust as not only do they form part of their welling-being courses and help in the fight to reverse climate change & de-forestation but bring in much needed income through sponsorship.

Shiva Trust land stretches over part of the Rossendale Way, which is a 45-mile circuit walk, taking you through old paths and trails onto wild moorland. There is much beauty in the landscape and a wealth of fascinating archaeological, social, and industrial history to be explored.

The charity was founded by Ramana Ennis Cole in 2012, after spending 10 years as a personal business & charity development consultant, studying Hindu philosophy for 20 years in India & working extensively in humanitarian projects.

MY Total Office Solutions Director, Darren Turner said: "We’re thrilled to help Anand & Shiva Trust with their objectives, and also still meet our own climate change & de-forestation objectives.

"Planting trees is the biggest & cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis. As trees grow, they absorb & store the carbon dioxide emissions driving global heating.

"Scientific research estimates, a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions that have been pumped into the atmosphere by human activities. A figure the scientists describe as 'mind-blowing'.

"For every office technology solution agreed we are planting a tree for that person or organisation, providing each with a certificate showing where it was planted.”

MY Total Office Solutions provide print & scan technology, internet phone systems, and laptops bundled with Microsoft 365, all in affordable monthly subscriptions. Together with office supplies, stationery, workplace solutions and office furniture.