In January 2022, 24 fruit trees – surrounded by 135 metres of fruiting hedge – were planted at the Rouel Road housing estate in Bermondsey by a multi-generational group of community members.

In late winter 2022/spring 2023 our funding helped ‘grow’ this fledgling forest’s reach and impact through a variety of events and workshops. These included a bulb planting session for 70+ members of the community including local primary school pupils, four bird and bat box building events for 70+ members of the local community, and a community co-design session creating an information board detailing the orchard trees and how they are looked after.

Additionally, funding helped to purchase sets of trowels and hand forks for garden volunteers.