Thanks to funding from the David Cock Foundation, we will be supporting community groups in Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Essex and/or Suffolk to plant their own orchards via a remote training programme*.
Image by weCREATE
Four groups will be chosen to take part, and the training will run from September 2023 until next March. We will provide trees, planting kit, educational resources and online classes to help the selected groups, plant flourishing orchards. The classes will include topics such as orchard design and pest management, along with advice about planting and troubleshooting tips from our orchard experts.
Long-term care is key: fruit trees require regular watering, pruning and maintenance to ensure they are productive, so we are looking for groups with a dedicated pool of volunteers committed to caring for the orchard for years to come.
And to ensure that the entire community benefits from the fruit trees, the planting sites must be publicly accessible. We are especially interested in sites that are adjacent to schools or other organisations that might benefit from the greenspace and fresh fruit.
If you or someone you know meets this criteria, please apply here.
- This is a different model than our usual approach, where we work in-person alongside community groups onsite.