The unique lime avenue of 100 trees will be ceremonially planted in Vestec near Prague on 23 April 2022 in the presence of the Governor of the Central Bohemia Region, Petra Pecková. There will also be a rich accompanying programme, during which families with children will learn, for example, why it is important to plant trees. There will be refreshments from the Prague Bistro Vltava with Ukrainian dishes and there will also be musical accompaniment. A hundred lime trees will commemorate the legacy of Prince Philip, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday last year, and who 66 years ago founded the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award (DofE) programme to support young people.
Tree planting is a joint activity of the DofE programme, the Sázíme budoucnost initiative and the Central Bohemian Region. Nationwide, more than 300 schools and organisations are involved in the DofE programme and almost 40 schools and organisations in the Central Bohemian Region alone. Worldwide, the programme is being delivered by young people from 130 countries. More than 5,000 participants a year take part in the programme and more than 1,500 teachers from across the country act as mentors to young people.
The planting of the lime tree avenue will be the culmination of the celebrations of 100 years of Prince Philip, which the Czech National DofE Centre has been carrying out since last year under the name #dofe100. Through the darujme.cz platform, people could donate funds to enable socially disadvantaged young people to take part in the programme. "Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the DofE National Centre decided to donate the additional funds to the 'I Stand By You' project dedicated to helping young people from Ukraine integrate in their new country. The project is being prepared together with the Slovak and Romanian branches of the programme and was awarded the auspices of the Ministry of Education in April," adds DofE's Executive Director in the Czech Republic, Tomáš Vokáč.
The planting of the Alley will be attended not only by pre-registered volunteers who have decided to help with the planting itself, but also by those who have financially supported the DofE programme and on their behalf a specific tree will always be planted. Among them will be, for example, Tatiana le Moigne, Director of Google Czech Republic, member of the Board of Directors and Director of the Administration Division of ČEZ, a.s. Michaela Chaloupková. The Councillor of the Central Bohemian Region for Education and Sport, Milan Vácha, the 1st Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy, Ostap Lukianchuk, and the Deputy Minister for the Environment, Eva Volfová, will also attend. If you are interested in registering, visit the DofE social networks or the news section on dofe.davidsejna.cz and register through the link by midnight tonight.
