Almond’s 30th anniversary – a community project which will bear fruit for many years to come
A blue sky day greeted the enthusiastic gardeners gathered on the land adjacent to Hobart Street in Craigshill. The concept of an orchard had been muted for a while but only came to fruition as part of Almond’s 30thanniversary and their contractor community benefits scheme.
Every time Almond goes out to tender for a piece of work, a criterion of that contract includes a community benefit element. This is where the supplier gives back for the benefit of the local community which could be in the form of products, labour or even employing a local apprentice.
The Hobart Street Community Orchard involved four of Almond’s contractors. Krinkels (formerly Continental) and Response Building Maintenance Services (Scotland) Ltd, who have both worked with Almond for many of their 30 years, provided the trees (37 in total, a mix of predominantly apple with some pear and plum), McTaggarts Construction who came along on the day with a rather useful hole boring machine plus three members of staff to help out, and Almond Enterprises Ltd who donated manpower.
In addition, there were colleagues from Almond including the Chief Executive, John Davidson and Director of Asset Management, Iona Taylor, who were both put to work. Children also came along from Lytham & Riverside Primary School and Howden St Andrew Primary School. All under the watchful eye of the Growing Together project team, led by David Tatton, he explains:
“Local people had been telling us for a while that they would love to have a community orchard and having scoped various plots of land owned by Almond Housing Association, we felt that the ground just along from the Hobart Street Community Garden would work really well.
The trees were a lot bigger than we expected, which is actually quite beneficial because they have a good chance of bedding in successfully and maybe even bearing some fruit this year.”
The area will be maintained as part of Almond’s landscape contract, with trees having been placed a reasonable distance apart to ensure easy access for the lawn mower. There is no intention to install any furniture at the site, although some signage will be fitted for easy identification of the trees.
“As the local housing association, we want to help wherever possible to enhance the areas in which our tenants live. We hope the local community will embrace and take care of the orchard. We look forward to watching it blossom and of course, we can’t wait to eat some fruit!” said John Davidson, Almond’s CEO.