Sponsor a tree in the Community orchard
I am writing this just after the Colwall Orchard Group Wassail, where over 250 folk came along to enjoy the evening with us. Wassailing at midwinter wakes the orchards up for the new season to encourage a good harvest in the coming year. This year, Colwall Orchard Group will improve our annual harvest by planting a community orchard for Colwall.
We already have lots of fruit trees and thanks to our wonderful volunteers, these are heeled in at the orchard ready for planting out in March. We will be grazing the main field, so as well as the usual tree stakes, rabbit guards and mulch mats; we need to put a tree cage round each one as we plant it out into its final position. We will number all the trees as we plant them, and label each tree cage to show which variety it is.
As we are a small charity, with limited core funds, we need some help to pay for all this tree planting, tree cage materials etc.
So, we are offering everyone the opportunity to sponsor a tree in the community orchard at Colwall Village Garden for £60 per tree. If you wish, we can add a brief sentence to the tree label saying:
‘Donated by / In memory of / Dedicated to -----------------------------------------‘. We only have a small space for the dedication, so we have set a 35 character limit.
If you wish to help by sponsoring a tree, please download the form (right click and choose "save as"), fill it in and send it with your cheque, made payable to Colwall Orchard Group, to our Treasurer (address on form).
Note: the form gives you the option, if you are a taxpayer, of making a gift aid declaration. If you sign this, we can reclaim tax on your donation to turn your gift of £60 into £75.
I am looking forward to seeing the orchard develop over the next few years and to the pleasure that will give to everyone in the village who comes to visit the orchard.
Helen Stace
On behalf of Colwall Orchard Group