A CHARITY that helps plant fruit trees is hoping it will grow on Reading.
On Saturday, members of Freely Fruity planted 50 saplings in the South Whitley Recreation Ground, with the help of Hollywood star and the charity’s ambassador, Winston Ellis.
The aim is to create an orchard packed with fruit and vegetables that can be enjoyed in future years.
As well as the orchard, willow trees were planted to alleviate flooding.
Helping with the planting were Whitley councillors Karen Rowland and Micky Leng, as well as Woodley and Earley prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour, Yuan Yang.
Before the planting, Cllr Leng told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “With politics, we are always guilty of short-termism, this isn’t short-termism, this is trying to fix a problem using the most eco-friendly way.
“When we are going round Whitley in the future with our walking sticks we’ll go ‘you don’t remember what it was like in the old days, this used to flood six inches deep’.
“That’s what we’re trying to do.”
After the event, Freely Fruity’s Matt Knight said: “Today was our first, hopefully one of many, large community orchards in the Reading area.
“We planted 50 fruit trees from 10 different species to provide free fruit for generations to come. This orchard forms part of the 100 fruit trees we are planting in the local area this spring.
“We had a fantastic time working with local people of all ages and walks of life. It was just brilliant watching Whitley residents getting involved with creating a lasting legacy for their own area.”
He continued: “We worked alongside Robert Stirling and his team from Reading Borough council and the local councillors Karen Rowland and Micky Leng to make sure local people were informed and able to participate on the day.
“Our own fabulous volunteers were joined by Jake and Bobby from the arborist firm Treeple, George from Urban Planting and of course our very own ambassador, actor, Winston Ellis.
“It was a hugely successful day, and we look forward to the next planting session this Sunday.”
The group welcomes new volunteers, and suggestions for future sites that could become community orchards.
For more details, log on to: https://www.freelyfruity.org or email: info@freelyfruity.org
