Help us celebrate the 25th anniversary of Apple Day in 2025!!

To celebrate 25 years since the first BEES Apple Day, we want to make this event bigger than ever.

Sunday the 12th October 12-4pm in Bowling Park Allotments.

Our café and food areas will be serving savoury food, amazing home made cakes and hot drinks.

Have a go at making your own organic apple juice, using a traditional apple press.

Come and enjoy a live band, stalls and children’s craft activities.

Produce for sale will include many varieties of apples from Bowling Community Orchard, apple juice, chutneys, jams, dried apples and other delicious orchard produce.

Are you able to helps us? Please let us know if you can help us with any of the following;

• Promoting the event before 12^th October
• Donating clean jars with lids
• Preparing the orchard before the event such as cutting grass
• Baking apple-based cakes, biscuits, buns or savouries
• Setting up or taking down on Sunday 12^th
• Helping to run a stall
• Clearing up at the end of the day
• General support to make the anniversary year the best one ever!

Please email bees@bradfordymca.org.uk or call 07845 239196 or 07970 621732

Directions; the orchard is within Bowling Park Allotments on Bowling Park Drive BD4 7ES.   Parking is on Bowling Park Drive except from disability access.     What3Words for the entrance wiser.cuts.tight

Please keep within the orchard boundaries and respect the other stall holders.   Well behaved dogs on a lead please.

The ground can be uneven under foot so be careful if using a pram or wheelchair and ask one of our volunteers for any assistance.

We look forward to seeing you there ready to celebrate all things appley!

APPLE JUICING AND FRIENDS OF BOWLING COMMUNITY ORCHARD

We are always keen to meet new volunteers to help maintain our wonderful organic orchard.  Tasks vary throughout the year but include weeding, mulching, feeding, watering, coppicing and harvesting the fruit trees.  Help is needed to sustain the biodiversity of this nature habitat and harvest our huge variety of apples.  We usually meet on a Friday or Saturday throughout the year.  Just come and help when you can.

If you can join us for these upcoming sessions, please call BEES on 07970 621732 to arrange access/times as the allotment gates are locked.

Review of APPLE DAY 2024

Apple Day is our most popular community event of the year. It was held on Sunday 12th October 2024 at Bowling  Community Orchard within Bowling Park allotments.  We were lucky to have a clear, dry day.

Around 400 people of all ages and community joined us for this year’s Apple Day celebration in Bowling Community Orchard. We could not run this annual event without a team of dedicated volunteers, cake bakers, crafters chutney makers and partner organisations to make it a great day out for all.

It is satisfying to know that there is a sustained interest in the produce from the orchard as well as in the environmental and biodiversity benefits. We received some great reviews and people keen to keep the orchard and Apple Day going.

As well as 102Kg of organic apples of 17 different varieties finding their way into people’s fruit bowls, over 80 jars of chutney and jam, 50 portions of dried rings and fruit leather, 8 pots of apple and pear cheese have found their way into people’s cupboards (or straight into their tummies). The popularity of the pasteurised juice increases year on year, with 36 bottles and 6 3L pouches snapped up.
It’s hard to say exactly how much cake, and savoury appley offerings, were eaten throughout the day, but it’s safe to say cake hasn’t gone out of fashion. We estimate about 450 portions, and this was only made possible by the generous and numerous donations made by volunteers, thank you very much.

This page will be kept up to date with future Apple Day planning… in the meantime why not check out some of our resources or get involved by volunteering with Bradford Apple Group and Friends of Bowling Community Orchard.  Call 07970 621732 or email bees@bradfordymca.org.uk