Latest news with #communityorchard
BBC News
14-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
March community orchard in people's own front gardens
A group that could not find the right land for a community orchard is offering free trees for people to grow in their front gardens - for the use of Wilson, from March Community Orchard - a Cambridgeshire initiative - said people could ask for a free apple, pear or plum tree from the said they must have appropriate space in their front garden, as the hope was once they had taken the fruit they needed, others in the town could collect it for themselves - again, for varieties the group is offering are self-pollinating and should begin to crop in about a year or two, she said. The Front Garden Fruit Project has just been launched in the Fenland town, but already about 20 people have asked for a tree, said Ms Wilson. "We've tried to set up a community orchard for some time but we had trouble securing land so we've come up with a new idea - a bit of a hybrid community orchard - where we are offering free fruit trees to March residents and in return they give us a bit of space to plant it in their front garden," she said."Eventually we're hoping that once the fruit trees are laden with fruit, that they might share some of this with the community."The varieties on offer "don't need a pollination partner and are very disease-resistant and tend to be very heavy-cropping varieties", said Ms could take one or two years before the trees produce fruit, but "in future years when you have many, many apples and pears and plums - and you've had enough crumbles - people who've been beneficiaries of the project might be willing to share a crate with the community".Ms Wilson said the project was bearing the cost of the trees with help from other charity grants, which come in at about £18 each, and the group would help with planting and provide free crates once the trees the future, the group hopes to create a map so the local community can see where to collect fruit for free. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Newcastle youngsters 'heartbroken' by orchard theft
Fruit trees from a community orchard have been stolen, leaving the young people who planted them project by the D2 Youth Zone group in Newcastle's Newbiggin Hall area, aimed to bring nature into the the group, which includes a number of people with social or mental health challenges or who are neurodivergent, found 15 of the 18 trees had been Smith, a youth project manager at D2, said: "To have all that hard work undone by theft is just heartbreaking. The young people are devastated." She said the youngsters often felt they were "being told they're not good enough" and the orchard had been a way of creating opportunities for them to feel proud of themselves by doing "something positive for the community"."Because of the unusually dry weather, the young people carried 18 10-litre buckets of water each week to keep the trees alive."We had plans to train them in tree care and turn this into a lasting legacy." 'Kindness stronger than selfishness' Newcastle City Council is among the organisations that have partnered for the Hay, deputy leader of Newcastle City Council which is involved on the scheme, described the youngsters' achievements as "truly inspiring".He said: "The theft of these trees is deeply disappointing, but it will not take away from the incredible effort and spirit shown by the young people of the D2 Youth Project."We will do everything we can to help rebuild this project and show that kindness and community will always be stronger than selfishness."Northumbria Police has confirmed it is investigating. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
