Abundance brief 16.4.12

[ Abundance Brief ]Abundance is a countrywide network of approximately 75 local projectsto harvest the seasonal glut of local fruit like apples, pears, cherries andplums and redistribute it to the local community primarily in order toreduce waste. This is an example of one such local project:http://www.growsheffield.com/pages/groShefAbund.htmlEach year hundreds of fruit trees go unpicked either because people don’tnotice them, may not be physically able to harvest them or there are justtoo many fruits at one time. Abundance is a movement of volunteers that help harvest city fruit and redistribute the surplus to thecommunity on a non-profit basis - to community cafes, schools, charities Sure Starts, volunteers andindividuals. Abundance also juices tonnes of fruit and makes jams, chutneys and preserves, some ofwhich has been for sale. They’ve even set up an apple press on the high street through AbundanceChiswick for everyone to enjoy local apple juice. Abundance continues throughout the seasonal cyclewith tree planting, grafting and pruning workshops. [ BACKGROUND ]Fruit factsCurrently, 90 per cent of fruit and 50 per cent of vegetables in the UK are imported. 70 per cent of ourapples come from distant lands such as New Zealand, over 12,000 miles away. Many of these fruits areproduced using intensive methods, which are heavily reliant on oil-based farming systems, and arethen transported using fossil fuels. HistoryAbundance was set up by Stephen Watts and Anne-Marie Culhane in Sheffield in 2007 to encouragemore local fruit growing, cultivation and harvesting. Abundance is an umbrella term for 75independent groups some of which do not use the term Abundance. The groups wish to co-operateand communicate more but to remain small, local and independent because the activity is by its naturevery local. How it works Abundance aims to have zero waste, so fruit is either eaten, stored, preserved, pressed, composted or fed to animals. Fruitful trees are identified through scouting, phone calls, word of mouth, texts and emails from tree owners or tip offs from people who have spotted fruit. They collect all the data about the trees and owner contact details in a chart as well as on a Google map. Abundance groups help create a sense of local community and attract significant numbers of volunteers and very positive press coverage. They draw attention to a fairly widespread disconnect with where our food comes from and how it is produced. Abundance has been featured on Channel 4’s River Cottage and Radio 4 and voted grassroots project of the year for the Observer Ethical awards in 2010. The project has been funded by a number of organizations including Arts Council, Naturesave Trust and Co-operative Membership Community Fund.

[ CREATIVE BRIEF ]There is a lot of enthusiasm and interest in what Abundance are doing and many local groupsare forming to harvest fruit in their area. The need for a website comes from groups beingfragmented and sometimes isolated, relying on a Yahoo group and occasional physicalmeetings for moral and practical support. Paul Mackay, who is managing the Abundance Network website, would love help with thefollowing 3 things:1.  Create an overarching Abundance brand and look & feel for the central website that embodies the uniqueness and character of the project (Logo, colour scheme, design elements, imagery). The individual groups will retain their own distinctive visual identities.2.  Create a simple homepage for the central Abundance Network website (wireframes, simple layouts and initial designs), that tells the Abundance story, provides links to existing local groups and serves as an informative promotional tool for new groups, volunteers, tree owners and potential funders. •  Paul to provide key sections, eg. Local groups, how to set up a new group, become a volunteer, Abundance inspiration (photos, videos, news), fruits by season •  Create a beautiful hand drawn/illustrated map of the UK which you could click on to find your local group and their info that DIDN’T look like a regular Google map but had some character, charm and uniqueness like the Abundance project.3.  Create imaginative communication assets to help spread the message about Abundance to potential volunteers, funders and tree owners. This could be through film, a tumblr site, animation, stunts etc. What we have to work with: We’d love an apple press & any other props, photos, video from the network Abundance guide to community urban harvesting (including stunning illustrations and useful information): http://www.growsheffield.com/images/abundbkview.pdf http://www.growsheffield.com/pages/groShefAbund.html# www.abundancelondon.com/ http://abundancemanchester.wordpress.com Abundance London fruit map http://g.co/maps/2nq22 Google Doc of all the Abundance groups across the country: http://bit.ly/xYlIR0

Abundance brief 16.4.12

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