A THREE Towns charity has continued to expand their community orchard,

The F.R.I.E.N.D.S. group from Stevenston have been planting new fruit trees over the past few weeks and they secured permission from North Ayrshire Council to increase the number of trees further.

The latest wave of tree planting follows recent funding success when the group received a grant totalling £13,886 from Postcode Local Trust, a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, to expand the orchard at Ardeer Quarry Local Nature Reserve in Stevenston.

The funding paid for 32 additional large apple, plum, gage and cherry trees and because the trees were planted in semi-maturity, they started producing fruit a few months after being planted.

The grant also paid for the creation of a large, sandy bee nesting bank nearby. Ground-nesting solitary bees have an affinity for sandy soil, and because of the town’s sand dune heritage, more species of bee have been recorded in Stevenston than anywhere else in Scotland.

Commenting on the award, group secretary Iain Hamlin said: “We were very pleased to have received the support of Postcode Local Trust to allow us to expand our orchard in Stevenston. The project not only benefits local people by giving them access to free fruit, but also helps out our native pollinators, providing them with both a place to nest and a source of pollen and nectar. We look forward to expanding the orchard further this autumn.”