Join us for the 16th edition of our family friendly Fruit Day on Saturday 12th September 2026!
You will find us at St Mark's Church Hall, St Mark's Place, Wimbledon, London SW19 7ND. We'll be there between 11am and 2.30pm.
We'll have delicious jams, chutneys, cakes and pies on sale. We will also have a plant stall and local honey for sale. There will be fun for all the family with plenty activities for all ages including apple pressing, apple pie-making for children and competitions and some prize draws.
Musical entertainment will again be provided the NEW Mugs, a ukulele band from New Malden.
FRUIT & CHARITABLE DONATIONS
Fruit Day is the culmination of hard work picking fruit from July onwards. 2025 was a particularly busy year as the hot summer had produced so much fruit. We picked over 3000 kilos!
Fruit donations were made to various oragnisations including the Dons Foodbank, Sustainable Merton Community Fridge, Faith in Action, Wimbledon Guild, Merton & Morden Guild, as well as care homes and churches. An estimated 240kg of apples were used for juicing on Fruit Day! 2025 Fruit Day raised almost £4,000 through sales and donations, a record - much of which will be distributed amongst various local charities and good causes. Donations in 2024 were made to the following:
We are delighted to support these wonderful organisations. May our contributions allow them to continue their hugely important work within our community! FANCY VOLUNTEERING IN 2026?
Abundance wouldn't exist without our wonderful volunteers. There are many different roles but this year we particularly need:
Social Media Editor If you are confident posting interesting content on Facebook and Instagram we'd love to hear from you. You will take the content from the five newsletters that are produced in Spring and Summer, editing posts as appropriate. We estimate that this will take 2 hours per month for 5 months, but of course we would welcome additional input. This is an important role, so please get in touch if you can help in any way. Contact us on [email protected] stating you are interested in the Social Media Editor role. Drivers to deliver Fruit Fruit picking is at the heart of Abundance and in 2025 we picked over 3000 Kgs. To ensure that the fruit is used not wasted, much of this fruit is currently taken directly to charities and other organisations by some of the volunteers who pick it. For 2026 we are looking for volunteer drivers who are happy to take on the role of delivering the fruit to the different good causes in Merton. Drivers need to be happy to use their own vehicle and be able to comfortably lift boxes or trugs of fruit weighing up to 15 kilograms. All drop off details will be provided and driving will be organised in sensible areas to minimise time and cost. If you think you can help, contact us on [email protected] stating you are interested in the Driving role. Other volunteer opportunities In addition to these specific roles we welcome volunteers in the following areas: * Fruit Picking - we pick fruit in gardens and allotments across the borough. Equipment is provided and each pick is typically a couple of hours. * Jam, chutney, cordial and jelly makers * Baking - cakes and crumbles are always popular, we welcome bakers who are happy to make cakes and freeze them for Fruit Day. * Volunteers on Fruit Day - helping on stalls or preparing apples for the apple press. If you are interested in volunteering we would love to hear from you. Please contact us at [email protected] stating which role you are interested in. |
LAST YEAR´S FRUIT DAY SUCCESS!
We held our 15th Annual Fruit Day on Saturday 13th September 2025. Despite the forecast of rain (it held off till 2pm), it was a great success with plenty of visitors, including the Mayor of Merton.
We had stalls brimming with fresh apple juice, cakes, jams, jellies, marmalades, and chutneys, all made by volunteers using the surplus fruit picked locally by our fruit pickers. We had honey and plant stalls, pie making, games and storytelling for children, competitions and a raffle, and entertainment from the NEW Mugs. Check out our photos from this year's event to relive the happy day, or for those who are new to Abundance Wimbledon, for a flavour of what Fruit Day is! Credit: Paul Gapper Photography MARMALADE & JAM MASTERCLASSES
Jam-making masterclass - Tuesday June 2nd
This very popular class will run again on June 2nd at 1.30 pm. Relaxed and friendly, the class will give participants the skills needed to impress family and friends with delicious homemade preserves. The cost is £30 and will include all ingredients. As in previous years the class will be lead by Sue Lovell-Greene and will last approximately 3 hours. Everyone attending will make 3 different kinds of jam and will take home a jar of each. Participants will need to bring their own jars and containers and places are limited to 6 per course. To reserve your place or register your interest contact Sue Lovell-Greene on [email protected]. Marmalade workshops The January and February workshops welcomed 8 participants, including quite a few new faces. Together they made over 60 jars of marmalade which will definitely be popular at Fruit Day. As well as marmalade, everybody made a delicious marmalade cake to take home. Thank you to everyone for making the workshops such a success and in particular thanks to Liz for planning and running the sessions. If you missed out this year and would like to register your interest in attending a future workshop or masterclass, click here. WATCH THIS VIDEO
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Abundance Wimbledon
Saving local Fruit and Vegetables to:
Reduce food waste and support local charities and community groups
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Our Newsletter
We are changing how we produce and send out our newsletters. Please bear with us whilst we do this. We hope any disruption will be minimal, but inevitably these changes are not without their challenges. If you expect to receive a newsletter but do not please let us know so we can resolve that once we have the new system in place. Please get in touch here with details of your name and email address. |
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