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Press release from The East of England Apples & Orchards Project :
The East of England Apples & Orchards Project is about to move to its first dedicated headquarters on the site of the former RAF West Raynham in West Norfolk.
Thanks to the generosity of Busseys and their customers, we are now able to begin setting up a unique ‘heritage orchard’. This will be home to over 500 fruit trees containing several samples of every variety of local heritage fruit tree from the East Anglian region. The trees – plums, apples, pears and cherries, many of which are not represented in any other UK collections - will be used for:
- research purposes – helping identify previously “lost” fruit varieties and confirming the identification of others
- training – running our orchard management and orchard creation courses, ensuring vital horticultural skills do not die out
- propagation – to ensure a continuous supply of graft wood for healthy local variety fruit trees
- information and interpretation – to enthuse and inspire the public about the range of varieties in our region
The work involved in this is clearing and preparing new ground on our six acre site, planting a shelter belt of alder trees and fencing the orchard area. All of the trees will need to be planted, staked and tagged – and then carefully tended through the first few years of growth.
Once established, the orchard will be used to train volunteers who will then assist communities, schools and the general public to plant their own local variety orchards across the region.
As a nationally respected organisation in orchard management and biodiversity, EEAOP will be able to continue to provide expertise and practical experience through the establishment of this regional orchard.
Since it’s inception in 2003 The East of England Apples and Orchards Project (EEAOP) has led the way in raising awareness of the importance of orchards and orchard fruit, and in ensuring their future in our region. EEAOP aims to enthuse, inspire and inform the public about this rich heritage in the east of England. As the only charity of its type in the region, it has had great success in this: in 2009/10 we reached 23,000 people through attendance at Apple Days across the region, identified thousands of fruit samples, sold 2,700 local fruit trees and trained 90 people on our courses, all of which were over-subscribed. As a direct result several ‘lost’ fruit varieties were re-discovered and several others are now under evaluation. Most importantly we assisted in the set-up of 44 new community orchards and supplied trees and advice to around 52 schools in the region.
As a result of our success, we have outgrown our domestic base and have been fundraising for a move to a new headquarters. This is where we will have an office, training studio workshop and a research orchard. We will be able to undertake research, support community orchard groups, provide training in orchard skills, make endangered fruit varieties available to the wider public and promote orchards and local orchard fruits wherever possible.
We have been offered some land at a very low rent and have been gifted two old workshop buildings on it and are now planning our move. The new headquarters and expansion of EEAOP will ensure our organisation can meet current and future demand and build its resilience for the future. The charity will build on the region’s skills base particularly in relation to orchard management and biodiversity, providing greater support for local orchard groups. The expansion will provide greater resource for volunteers and to input to national research.
www.applesandorchards.org.uk | 
