BSW Group found themselves in esteemed company when sponsoring the Borders Book Festival in Melrose earlier this month, and in doing so the Borders business also raised some money for charity.
In sponsoring the event, BSW Group had its very own big top tent for event speakers, showcasing authors like Dr Gavin Francis and Ben Rawlence, TV wine expert Helen McGinn, and three-time F1 world champion Jackie Stewart, who all featured in a jam-packed line up from Thursday to Sunday.
Representatives from across BSW Group – including Maelor Forest Nurseries, Tilhill, BSW Timber and CarbonStore – hosted a bespoke pop-up stand that was created from BSW products, which are grown and manufactured in the Borders region.
BSW Group, which established itself just 10 miles down the road in Earlston, took the opportunity to sell trees of varying species at the event, and after raising £650 for the Future Trees Trust through sales and donations, the business matched the funding to double the total to £1,300.
Tony Hackney, CEO of BSW Group, said: “We’re very proud to have sponsored this year’s Borders Book Festival. It’s a prestigious event that brings real value to the community and the Borders region, where our own business originated more than 100 years ago.
“BSW Group attended the festival to showcase the importance of British woodlands and homegrown timber materials, which are central to our net zero ambitions and aspirations to build more sustainably.”
“Our stand, just in front of the BSW Group big top, was centred around ‘seeing timber in a new light’,” added Hackney.
Young people from across the Borders region also put their tactical nous to the test in a large game of Jenga, while a toy chainsaw and small wooden table for children to construct all added to the thrills of the festival.
Giveaways during the weekend included bookmarks with wildflower seeds in and books being sold on plant species for adults and children. The Roots of BSW history book was also on sale, while the Group’s team educated festivalgoers on tree species, planting, and carbon sequestration.
The Future Trees Trust, who received the donation of £1,300, is the only UK charity dedicated to improving trees, and has a mission to use research to make sure that the next generation of broadleaved trees will deliver all the environmental, social and economic benefits that they possibly can.
Dr Jo Clark, Head of Research at Future Trees Trust, said: “This is a fantastic donation from BSW Group, including Maelor Forest Nurseries who provided the trees, and we are very grateful to them for supporting our work in this way.
“We will use this donation to further the work on our breeding programmes for commercially important broadleaved species. With our partners, we aim to be able to provide sufficient qualified and tested planting stock so that all woodlands planted for productive forestry contain a proportion of genetically improved material, to produce better quality timber, while being genetically diverse to provide resilience to climate change and pests and pathogens.”
The largest integrated forestry business in the UK, BSW Group also donated Alder, Silver Birch, Goat Willow and Downy birch trees to Greener Melrose, which aims to protect, conserve and improve the environment, promote sustainable developments and increase resilience to resource scarcity by establishing a local transition initiative.
To find out more about BSW Group, visit www.thebswgroupc.co.uk
