ONE OF Wokingham’s youngest charities recently received a major cash boost, helping it support more people than ever before.
Freely Fruity launched earlier this year with a mission to make fresh fruit more accessible to the local community.
On Saturday, December 12, it received a donation of more than £1,300 from The Masonic Lodge.
Now, the charity is investing in a 60ft polytunnel to increase growing space.
“We’re extremely grateful for the support of our local community,” said Matt Knight, one of the charity’s founders.
“Structurally, The Masonic Lodge’s donation will allow us to improve our yield of vegetables somewhere in the region of 50%.
“It’s going to make a massive difference to the people of the borough and their families.”
While Freely Fruity may only be six-months-old, it’s already got its sights set on helping the nation.
The charity was born out of a need for more fruit trees, Mr Knight explained, and it launched with the intention of planting fruit trees on public land to give communities access to free food.
But the coronavirus pandemic has led the charity towards helping local food banks provide more fresh items to vulnerable residents in Wokingham borough.
“Covid has both founded us and hindered us all at the same time,” Mr Knight explained.
“Initially, we dreamt of growing trees on as much public land as we could possibly get, but the virus made that a bit difficult.
“That’s what inspired us to turn towards helping food banks.”
Freely Fruity currently donates to between 10 and 15 charitable organisations and food banks in the local area.
“I’ve worked with homeless charities and food banks in the past,” Mr Knight said. “A lot of the food they offer is long life and non-perishable.
“There’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t always provide nutrition.
“We’ve found that there’s a lot of demand for fresh food, so we’re just plugging that gap.”
Throughout its inaugural six months, Freely Fruity has been met with overwhelming support from the community.
It’s even had to put volunteers on a waiting list because so many people have signed up to lend a hand.
The charity aims to grow in size and is collaborating with the University of Reading in the hopes to start providing fresh food on a national scale.
“Right now we’re just asking people to watch this space,” Mr Knight explained.
“Covid isn’t going to go away soon, so we’ll continue growing fruits and vegetables whilst trying to get more trees out there in the local community.”
The charity is also creating packs which will enable residents to grow their own food, and these will be donated to local food banks.
Mr Knight said Freely Fruity’s first six months were “a bit of a rollercoaster”.
“There’s been a lot more highs than lows, and we’ve gone from just an idea to a fully fledged charity,” he said. “You couldn’t really ask for much more.”
To find out more about Freely Fruity and how to lend a hand, visit: www.facebook.com/freelyfruityuk
