Social Farms & Gardens, the charity supporting communities to farm, garden and grow together, is calling out for Welsh communities who want to plant edible fruit and nut trees or begin processing new fruit and nut products.
The call-out is part of the Productive Community Orchards strand of their £1.27 million Resilient Green Spaces project. Resilient Green Spaces is a partnership project being led by Social Farms & Gardens to pilot alternative re-localised food systems using communities and their green spaces as a driving force for change across Wales until June 2023. The project is funded through the Welsh Government Rural Communities Programme.
If you are planning for a new or existing project to begin growing or processing fruit and nuts, then this project could be just the helping hand you need! Here’s what you’ll need to be eligible to apply:
- You must be based in Wales
- You must be an active, community focused organisation, with support and buy-in from members and volunteers
- You’ll need to have access/permission in place for land suitable for tree planting, ideally having a minimum of 10 years access to the land – the Community Land Advisory Service in Wales can help with land access agreements, do get in touch with them if you require assistance – you can email lucie@farmgarden.org.uk
- You need to hold adequate insurance cover
- You must have support to plant the trees
- Your site should have water and electricity available – but if you don’t have access to water and / or electricity right now and want to apply for processing and storage equipment, Social Farms and Gardens might be able to help with advice which may enable you to apply again later in the year. Please contact sara@farmgarden.org.uk for more information.
- You’ll need to commit to joining an active Community Orchard Network
- You must be willing to attend training workshops, events and networking
- You’ll need to show that your site will benefit the wider area (provide greener spaces, more trees)
- Ideally you’ll have a few staff or volunteers that hold a level two food hygiene certificate
- You’ll need to have access to buildings that can be used for storage, processing and production (if applying for processing / storage equipment)
This scheme can’t offer cash grant funding but they can provide…
- Trees! (Apples, Plums, Pears, Nuts) And associated items such as mulch mats, labels, stakes, ties, guards etc.
- Training and support on: Orchard management and maintenance, production, sales and distribution
- Storage equipment
- Processing equipment such as dehydrators, presses, jam making equipment and pasteuriser
- Start-up packages of consumables (jars, bottles, bags, labels etc.)
If you would like to have an informal conversation with the Productive Community Orchards team you can email wales@farmgarden.org.uk.
If you’re looking for orchard resources, try the Orchard Management Toolkit (click here for English and here for Welsh) and Orchard for Wales report in English or Welsh.
If you are ready to be considered for this Productive Community Orchards support, you can apply by filling in this form.
