Ayse Hassan

Ayse Hassan - Tree auditor since 2021

Photo shows Ayse Hassan beside an Italian Cypress at Brockley station, the first stop on the tree walk in Whispers on the Wind

Here’s a link for ‘Savages’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ZpPsaMNMM

and here’s one for my most recent project Esya’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Sl40Ai-Nw

For Ayse Hassan, volunteering for Street Trees for Living came naturally. It wasn’t something on the side. “For me volunteering has always been a good way of getting out of my comfort zone”. She tells me without further explanation, “in fact I volunteered at a very young age as a badger”.

This refers to the cadet role with St John Ambulance, but Ayse also tells me she once dressed as a penguin while sledding from Norway to Sweden. That was to do with raising funds for the Samaritans.

“Volunteering is a great way of extending a passion or a hobby. Find something you love and go and do it! It’s amazing how much you can give back. For me volunteering has the power to shape the lives of others - and your own. The Samaritans even gave me a huge extended family.”

When I meet Ayse she is not dressed as an animal. I am quickly convinced she’s someone who has elevated to an art form the moulding of circumstances into a life. Brockley-born and bred, she is a musician. She started off playing bass in the punk band Savages which was twice nominated for a Mercury award. As Esya she is now pursuing her own electronic dark pop project. “Industrial Pop really” she says.

In 2021 and newly pregnant, she wanted to do something to get her out of the house on a walk every day. She applied to join our tree visiting audit team, and the work led within a few months to the making of a film for children, Whispers on the Wind. It was made through the winter with her partner Alex Keegan, and inspired by street trees - it was featured in our March 2022 newsletter. Now Ayse and Alex also have a baby girl, Ayla - and hugely improved skills in identifying trees!