800 trees planted in community project

A team of four staff from Glendale Managed Services are spending the summer volunteering to help deliver a community project.

Organised by Glendale arborist Ben Grayson, the team will work alongside local people and school pupils to transform a seven-acre site in Newquay, known as the Newquay Community Orchard project.

800 fruit trees have already been planted on the site, with plans to create a sensory garden, wildlife areas and vegetable patches well underway.  A café and an area for schools and community groups to use are scheduled for completion by the end of summer.

The team will also donate equipment to move heavy stones into position, then deliver and arrange recycled tyres into a semi-circle shape which will be covered in soil to create an amphitheatre.

The Newquay Community Orchard project was established by a group of local businesses in the area who want to increase community green space in Newquay.

They want the orchard to become a community hub and hope the site will improve the local economy by providing jobs, apprenticeships and educational services for residents.

The land was donated by The Duchy of Cornwall, and the project has received funding from local businesses including The Ashden Trust, Crowdfund, The Woodland Trust, The Big Tree Plant and Cornwall Community Foundation.

Ben Grayson said: “I live in Newquay and the orchard is something the area will really benefit from. Glendale regularly gets involved with projects like this and it’s great to be able to give something back to the community.

“It will provide an area for local people to come together, as well as a place for people to learn about horticulture.”