A Muslim youth group joined a volunteer force from across north-west London to plant thousands of trees in Northolt.

Sixty-five members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) teamed up with the Trees for Cities charity to sow the seeds for 2,700 trees at Northolt Recreation Ground on December 7.

The session was part of a national campaign AMYA is running, to plant 50,000 trees between November this year and January.

AMYA youth leader Muddassar Ahmed said: “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.”

A six-man team from AMYA tried to stick to the theme of being environmentally friendly by cycling to and from the event.

Trees for Cities, established in 1993, is a charity that aims to create social cohesion and beautify cities through tree planting. Its members and community partners have planted almost 400,000 trees to date.