Freely Fruity

01/11/2026

What a morning! We were blessed with glorious sunshine yesterday as team Fruity planted 37 fruit trees with 26 different Shinfield families.

Planting this lasting legacy was the idea of a local Shinfield resident. He contacted University of Reading and their brilliant team got in contact with us to make it happen.

We were joined on the day by three of those marvellous people from UoR (Molli, Jules and Jake) to assist with the planting. We were also visited by several of the local Shinfield Parish Council councillors.

It was great watching the excitement and enthusiasm of the many children involved in the project. They will be the trees custodians as the years progress.

Each family had a personalised tag placed onto their tree and were given a certificate to commemorate the special occasion.

We look forward to watching the orchard grow 🌳 🍎 ❤️

12/10/2026

Spent the evening talking all things Fruity with the amazing Earley Trefoil ladies tonight.

I was joined by the brilliant Trish - who explained the history behind the modern apple. Really interesting talk that was very well received.

11/10/2026

Great event today up at Forbury gardens for the Regenerative Foods festival. Had lots of great conversations with many different people and stakeholders.

Was great to chat to Imogen from Wokingham Borough, Green Health Thames Valley, Ethical Reading, SustEnable Wokingham, Edible Reading, Oranges for Justice, Chiltern Flour Co, and our good friend Ian Hydon from CLASP amongst many others (apologies to anyone we’ve missed out).

10/10/2026

We continued our community garden at Whitley Wood Community Centre today with some brilliant local volunteers and councillors. We leveled the raised beds, shifted several tonnes of topsoil, and completed the fencing and gates.

Carolyn also bought some tools over that have been donated by the fantastic volunteers of Emmanuel Church Woodley community garden. It was a particularly poignant moment as Ray, who recently passed, grew up in Whitley. A lovely connection between the two gardens.

Look out for the next volunteer day where we hope to finish the project.

23/09/2026

Come join team Fruity and several other local environmental and sustainable food focused organisations at Forbury gardens on Sunday 11th October between 10.30 and 4.

The festival brings together and celebrates the growers, producers and organisations that contribute to a regenerative local food system and a wilder, more biodiverse region.You’ll find a collection of regenerative & organic growers, bakers, makers, street food vendors, crafters, charities, commun...

23/09/2026

Carolyn and Ashley spent the day at the University of Reading Community Fair on Tuesday.

They met hundreds of students and staff from the university - had some brilliant conversations and signed up new volunteers for the charity.

20/09/2026

A fabulous session up at the University of Reading walled learning garden on Saturday.

Our brilliant team of volunteers including the amazing team from The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award ran some great sessions.

We showed how you can construct simple bird feeders from; pine cones, bird seed, sunflower butter and twine. We also planted wildflowers and perennials in biodegradable pots for people to take home with them.

It was great to revisit the trees and plants we installed months ago and see how well the garden had progressed. Kirsty, Dylan and the rest of the team have done an impressive job - and we look forward to working with them over the next few years.

Matt (CEO) was also there - but representing the other charity he works for - The Tree Council. They have constructed an air root pruning table in the same garden.

Margaret (volunteer from Emmanuel Church Woodley community garden) and her family were also in attendance. Watch this space for a lovely connection between their garden in Woodley and the new one we’re building in Whitley Wood Community Centre (where Ray grew up).

13/09/2026

Work started this weekend on the community garden at Whitley Wood Community Centre.

A really exciting project, as once completed, it will host regular horticultural activities for local residents. This will become our first coordinator staffed site in Berkshire. Keep an eye out for the job opportunity coming soon. Feel free to reach out for further information if interested.

We were joined by several local residents and two Reading Council employees.

Carolyn (head of volunteer services) said:

“Some lovely ladies appeared and did some quite challenging weeding along the site and went even further by making sure we were well supplied with tea and coffee. It was also great to see how our DoE volunteers, Maddie and Abbie, gained experience and skills so quickly and became very capable and confident in drilling the bed frames together, not an easy task. The teamwork interaction built very quickly so interesting to see where everyone fitted in where they were most needed, felt most comfortable and it kept things moving. The DoE helpers were not the only ones to experience new challenges, Rob from Reading Council admitted he’s never done anything like this before!”

We were also joined by our newest volunteer Presley. He was also amazing! It’s like he’s been volunteering with us for years.

We look forward to our next session at the centre on Saturday 10th October.

01/09/2026

Come join team Fruity & Friends to help create a new community garden in Whitley.

It is located behind the community centre in Whitley Wood - no tools or experience necessary - just the desire to help out. A variety of tasks will be available to suit any physical ability.

There are two days to chose from (or come to both) Saturday 12th September anytime between 9am and 5pm & Saturday 10th October anytime between 9am and 5pm.