Abundance Wimbledon Newsletter
September 13, 2022
WELCOME TO ABUNDANCE WIMBLEDON - 13th SEPTEMBER, 2022 NEWSLETTER
September is upon us and our 12th Annual Fruit Day is just days away - four to be exact.
Whilst we are all still absorbing the very sad news about Queen Elizabeth II, we do believe that our event is very much in-keeping with our late monarch’s lifelong commitment to supporting charity work. Moreover, one of the key focuses of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee this year has been on planting sustainability, encouraging people to positively contribute to the environment by planting trees - something that Abundance Wimbledon is very much on board with, having planted 10 trees in the local area in recent years. We therefore look forward to hosting Fruit Day this Saturday, 17th September, as planned, and count on welcoming as many people as possible. May the weather be kind to us so that we may all enjoy it to the full.
We have a few further updates on our recent activity and our long-awaited event, as well a couple of requests to help make it a true triumph. Here goes..
FRUIT DAY UPDATE
With Fruit Day but days away now, it’s all hands on deck to get the last few preparations in place. Below is some useful information for the day:
New Helpers:
At Abundance Wimbledon we are always looking to engage and involve our local community in what we do. We were therefore delighted when the local Brownies & Girl Guides asked to take part and help out at this year’s Fruit Day. We look forward to welcoming these young girls and have no doubt they will make a fabulous contribution and addition to our event!
Venue Access:
There will no longer be a one-way system in place this year. There will instead be free-flow access to the event via Compton Road.
Please note that there will be a queuing system in place for the various food stalls in the hall. We therefore ask everyone to be mindful of this when entering/leaving via the entrance/exit.
Mayor:
The Mayor will no longer be opening the event as has been customary these past few years. This is due to due to Fruit Day falling within the period of National Mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, during which the undertaking of ceremonial duties has been postponed as a mark of respect.
What’s On?
For those of you that are new to our big annual Fruit Day event, this is what you can expect to find and enjoy on the day:
Below are the details for our Fruit Day - SEE YOU THERE!
Abundance Wimbledon, 12th Annual Fruit Day
SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER, 2022
11.00am - 2.30pm
St Mark's Church Hall & Grounds
St Mark's Pl, Wimbledon, London SW19 7ND
A LITTLE CHANGE PLEASE…
Whilst we have embraced contactless card payments and will be operating a hybrid of ‘cash or card’, there will be some stalls which will only be able to accept ‘cash’. These include Karoline’s hugely popular Free Make & Activities Stall as well as the Plant Stall. Note: the Free Make & Activities themselves are FREE, but there will be the opportunity to leave a small cash donation, if so wished, and there will be various lovely items available for sale on this stall also!
We therefore ask that you please bring along some coins and small notes as well as your bank card so as not to miss out on any of the fantastic items we have on offer!
LATEST PICKING STATS
At the time of our last newsletter in August, our wonderful team of picking volunteers had collected over 134kgs of various fruit from local gardens. Since then, our Fruit Pickers have salvaged over 10x this amount! As of today, the total fruit rescued from a woeful fate as unwanted mulch, is a staggering 1,462kgs (or 1.46 TONNES to sound even more impressive!). Here is a breakdown of what has been collected:
1,045.81kgs Apples
7.93kgs Blackberries
4.5kgs Blackcurrants
1.05kgs Greengages
3.2kgs Marrows
342kgs Pears
12.75kgs Plums
42kgs Quince
5.1kgs Rhubarb
We are delighted to confirm that over 798kgs of the above fruit has been shared among the following local charities and organisations: Coffee in the Wood, Commonside Community Trust, Cranmer Primary School, Deen City Farm, Hall Place Temporary Accommodation, Faith in Action, Friends in St Helier (FISH), Merton & Morden Guild, Morden Baptist Church, St. Michael’s Foodbank, St. Teresa’s Nursing Home, Sunshine Café, Sustainable Merton’s Community Fridge, Oaks Sheltered Accommodation, Wimbledon Guild, Wimbledon Stables, YMCA.
Much of the rest has gone to make hordes of cakes, bakes, jams, chutneys and more for our big Fruit Day bonanza. We also have a healthy stash of apples set aside for our ever popular Apple Press Stall, where people can watch their apple juice be freshly pressed - you simply don’t get fresher (or tastier) than that!
A HUGE THANK YOU to all our Fruit Pickers, Donors, Fruit Transport team & Bakers for all their help and for giving up their time and skills so generously. What a wonderful bunch!
JAM-PACKED STALLS
True to form, our team of volunteer cooks and bakers have been busy peeling, coring, stewing, poaching and baking for several weeks now to make the most delicious cordials, jams, jellies, chutneys, pies, crumbles, etc. You name it, we are likely to have it lining our stalls at Fruit Day! To get your taste buds worked up, here are just some of the scrumptious delights you will be able to get your hands on:
Cordials:
CAKES PLEASE!
Whilst we have a plethora of jams, jellies, chutneys and chutneys, we are in NEED OF MORE CAKES! If YOU or anyone you know enjoys baking and would like to contribute some cakes to our cake stall, please get in touch with Rosie: [email protected]
Need a little inspiration on what to make? We have some delicious recipes on our website, including a scrumptious sounding Apple & Almond Cake, or a very temping Apple & Blackberry Loaf, among others.
OUR NEXT NEWSLETTER
We will be back in touch after Fruit Day for a debrief on our big day!
Feel free to send any news to our media editor, Cristina, at [email protected]
** To get in touch about any of the above information, please just reply to this email **
Best wishes and sincere thanks from us all
Juliet and the team at Abundance Wimbledon
September is upon us and our 12th Annual Fruit Day is just days away - four to be exact.
Whilst we are all still absorbing the very sad news about Queen Elizabeth II, we do believe that our event is very much in-keeping with our late monarch’s lifelong commitment to supporting charity work. Moreover, one of the key focuses of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee this year has been on planting sustainability, encouraging people to positively contribute to the environment by planting trees - something that Abundance Wimbledon is very much on board with, having planted 10 trees in the local area in recent years. We therefore look forward to hosting Fruit Day this Saturday, 17th September, as planned, and count on welcoming as many people as possible. May the weather be kind to us so that we may all enjoy it to the full.
We have a few further updates on our recent activity and our long-awaited event, as well a couple of requests to help make it a true triumph. Here goes..
- FRUIT DAY UPDATE
- A LITTLE CHANGE PLEASE…
- LATEST PICKING STATS
- JAM-PACKED STALLS
- CAKES PLEASE!
- OUR NEXT NEWSLETTER
FRUIT DAY UPDATE
With Fruit Day but days away now, it’s all hands on deck to get the last few preparations in place. Below is some useful information for the day:
New Helpers:
At Abundance Wimbledon we are always looking to engage and involve our local community in what we do. We were therefore delighted when the local Brownies & Girl Guides asked to take part and help out at this year’s Fruit Day. We look forward to welcoming these young girls and have no doubt they will make a fabulous contribution and addition to our event!
Venue Access:
There will no longer be a one-way system in place this year. There will instead be free-flow access to the event via Compton Road.
Please note that there will be a queuing system in place for the various food stalls in the hall. We therefore ask everyone to be mindful of this when entering/leaving via the entrance/exit.
Mayor:
The Mayor will no longer be opening the event as has been customary these past few years. This is due to due to Fruit Day falling within the period of National Mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, during which the undertaking of ceremonial duties has been postponed as a mark of respect.
What’s On?
For those of you that are new to our big annual Fruit Day event, this is what you can expect to find and enjoy on the day:
- Homemade Treats for Sale
Jams, chutneys, cordials, cakes, pies, biscuits, etc - Local Honey for Sale
Fresh from Alison and David’s beehives in Martin Way, Morden Hall Park and Tooting. - Apple Press
A chance to buy some freshly pressed apples using many of the locally rescued apples! - Apple Pie Making
This is an all-ages-friendly activity (particularly popular with the little ones) that will see you take home your very own apple pie, assembled by your own fair hands. - Free Make & Children's Activities
Both will be headed up by our amazingly creative Karoline. The Free Make will be unveiled on the day (everyone loves a surprise!) and the children's activities are aimed at all ages. - Plants for sale
- Forty Acre Forest coffee bike, serving hot drinks.
- Performances by Songs on Wheels
- Performances by the International Ukulele Orchestra
- Abundance Wimbledon Raffle Prizes (run by the Brownies & Girl Guides)
- Sustainable Merton Stall
- Friends of the Earth Stall
Below are the details for our Fruit Day - SEE YOU THERE!
Abundance Wimbledon, 12th Annual Fruit Day
SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER, 2022
11.00am - 2.30pm
St Mark's Church Hall & Grounds
St Mark's Pl, Wimbledon, London SW19 7ND
A LITTLE CHANGE PLEASE…
Whilst we have embraced contactless card payments and will be operating a hybrid of ‘cash or card’, there will be some stalls which will only be able to accept ‘cash’. These include Karoline’s hugely popular Free Make & Activities Stall as well as the Plant Stall. Note: the Free Make & Activities themselves are FREE, but there will be the opportunity to leave a small cash donation, if so wished, and there will be various lovely items available for sale on this stall also!
We therefore ask that you please bring along some coins and small notes as well as your bank card so as not to miss out on any of the fantastic items we have on offer!
LATEST PICKING STATS
At the time of our last newsletter in August, our wonderful team of picking volunteers had collected over 134kgs of various fruit from local gardens. Since then, our Fruit Pickers have salvaged over 10x this amount! As of today, the total fruit rescued from a woeful fate as unwanted mulch, is a staggering 1,462kgs (or 1.46 TONNES to sound even more impressive!). Here is a breakdown of what has been collected:
1,045.81kgs Apples
7.93kgs Blackberries
4.5kgs Blackcurrants
1.05kgs Greengages
3.2kgs Marrows
342kgs Pears
12.75kgs Plums
42kgs Quince
5.1kgs Rhubarb
We are delighted to confirm that over 798kgs of the above fruit has been shared among the following local charities and organisations: Coffee in the Wood, Commonside Community Trust, Cranmer Primary School, Deen City Farm, Hall Place Temporary Accommodation, Faith in Action, Friends in St Helier (FISH), Merton & Morden Guild, Morden Baptist Church, St. Michael’s Foodbank, St. Teresa’s Nursing Home, Sunshine Café, Sustainable Merton’s Community Fridge, Oaks Sheltered Accommodation, Wimbledon Guild, Wimbledon Stables, YMCA.
Much of the rest has gone to make hordes of cakes, bakes, jams, chutneys and more for our big Fruit Day bonanza. We also have a healthy stash of apples set aside for our ever popular Apple Press Stall, where people can watch their apple juice be freshly pressed - you simply don’t get fresher (or tastier) than that!
A HUGE THANK YOU to all our Fruit Pickers, Donors, Fruit Transport team & Bakers for all their help and for giving up their time and skills so generously. What a wonderful bunch!
JAM-PACKED STALLS
True to form, our team of volunteer cooks and bakers have been busy peeling, coring, stewing, poaching and baking for several weeks now to make the most delicious cordials, jams, jellies, chutneys, pies, crumbles, etc. You name it, we are likely to have it lining our stalls at Fruit Day! To get your taste buds worked up, here are just some of the scrumptious delights you will be able to get your hands on:
Cordials:
- Elderflower
- Rhubarb
- Somerset (apple, pear & cider - our BESTSELLER)
- Apple & Blackberry
- Plum
- Chilli
- Plum
- Hedgerow (filled with all the hedgerow fruits: sloes, elderberries, blackberries - delicious!).
- Nectarine
- Christmas (filled with delicious spices)
- Windfall (apples, grapefruit & lemon)
- Mrs Judd’s (a 1941 wartime recipe handed down 3 generations by the now fabled landlady, Mrs Judd of Bedfordshire. This recipe is not only delicious but simple and economical to make. Thank you Mrs Judd, we hope you are proud that your recipe lives on.)
- Blackberry Upside-down Cake
- Pear & Chocolate Cake (gluten-free)
- Dorset Apple Cake
- Honey & Walnut Cake
- Orange & Almond Cake
- Vegan Apple Cake
CAKES PLEASE!
Whilst we have a plethora of jams, jellies, chutneys and chutneys, we are in NEED OF MORE CAKES! If YOU or anyone you know enjoys baking and would like to contribute some cakes to our cake stall, please get in touch with Rosie: [email protected]
Need a little inspiration on what to make? We have some delicious recipes on our website, including a scrumptious sounding Apple & Almond Cake, or a very temping Apple & Blackberry Loaf, among others.
OUR NEXT NEWSLETTER
We will be back in touch after Fruit Day for a debrief on our big day!
Feel free to send any news to our media editor, Cristina, at [email protected]
** To get in touch about any of the above information, please just reply to this email **
Best wishes and sincere thanks from us all
Juliet and the team at Abundance Wimbledon
