Steve Johnson created the Wishing Tree in 2003. He built it as a memorial to the old chestnut tree. This was a symbol of hope in the early stages of the anti-M11 campaign in East London in 1993. The tree was painted in fluorescent colours as a tribute to the Donga Tribe, who dressed in colourful clothing.

The tree appeared at the Synergy Project in 2004, as part of an M11 exhibition. People started tying things on it, and from there became a wishing tree. Steve decided to use fluorescent card to make up the 'leaves'. The tree made its first outdoor appearance at Small World Festival that May. It appeared at a few other small festivals that year, such as Earthwise, Leyton Green Fair and the Cannabis Festival.

It was at 2005's Glastonbury Festival where the tree really took off. Placed in the Green Futures Field, the Wishing Tree became a surprise hit at the festival. That year we first designed the table for people to write their wishes on. The table also kept the tree upright as it became more top-heavy from the wishes. Also this year we had our own solar powered system. This helped us become self-sufficient with lighting the tree. It became common to see the tree surrounded by wishmakers making their wishes and reading others.

In 2006 we built a bigger trunk, and a bigger table. This gave the tree a fresh look as well as accomodating the greater bulk of wishes.

In 2007 we had our biggest year yet. Unfortunately this was the year where bad weather affected many festivals. In response to this we built a special shelter the following year. It was a success, though it didn't help with the most extremes of weather which also hit that year.

Therefore this year we've built a special marquee to house the tree. This will mean that it will be able to flourish whatever the weather throws at us.