You can pick the sweetest fruit in the concrete jungle
Communities can bid for up to £400 to spend on their community orchard or garden at an event on 8 September - just in time for this year’s apple and pear harvest season.
The deadline for applications is coming up fast, on the 26th August so community groups are urged to get their applications in early to avoid disappointment.
Early bird applications before 12 August get a copy of the new book, Fruit and Vegetables for Scotland, by Ken Cox and Caroline Beaton.
Although the event is being held in the urban setting of central Glasgow it is open to any community growing space in Scotland that has five or more fruit or nut trees, which is the official definition of an orchard.
Applicants can apply under three different headings of ‘Healthy orchard habitats’, Heart of the community’ and ‘Community skill-sharing.’ Fifteen applicants will be accepted in total and there is a fund of £3500, which may be increased if there is a high level of interest.
The applicants will then be invited to attend ‘Sweetest fruit in the concrete jungle’, a day-long event on Saturday, 8 September at Kinning Park Complex with practical workshops, talks, discussions and cider tasting.
The morning will be dedicated to applicants pitching for four minutes each in a dragon’s den style contest, except that the dragons are the audience themselves, who each get to vote for their favourite project. Those with the most votes get the most funding.
It is being organised by The Orchard Project, a national charity dedicated to the creation, restoration and celebration of community orchards in England and Scotland and is the first of its kind in Scotland
Project manager for the Orchard Project in Glasgow, Fergus Walker, said “Over the last ten years we have seen a real resurgence in community orchard across Scotland, especially in urban areas, and we know that there are a lot of dedicated community groups that are passionate about growing fruit and nut trees – which is fantastic as you can’t buy a Scottish apple in the supermarket.”
“By giving the power to communities to pitch for and decide who gets funded for small pots of money using a simple and fun process we hope to strengthen the orcharding network in Glasgow and beyond”
Full details on how to apply can be found here.
