Middlesbrough's tree canopy currently covers around 11.8% of the city. By comparison, the average across England is 16%. To reach that level, we would need to plant trees across an area roughly the size of 30 football pitches. But planting is only half the story. Across England, ambitious tree planting schemes have been severely impacted by drought, with hundreds of thousands of saplings dying due to lack of water and poor planning for environmental conditions (The Guardian, 2023). This is...

How do we measure what truly matters for our city's future? At BORO Doughnut CIC, we start with the data. Reports like the 2024 South Tees JSNA ( https://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/media/rpgda1oj/south-tees-jsna-live-well-green-spaces.pdf ) give us a clear benchmark: Middlesbrough has just 18.8 sqm of green space per person. To understand what this means: the national minimum standard for wellbeing is 24 sqm, and the England average is 28.5 sqm. Our town's provision is not only below the...