Coldplay have given their support to Shepton Mallet food community initiative, The Food Forest Project.

The Food Forest Project (FFP) launched in 2018, with the aim of using pockets of disused land to produce, free, fresh, organic food for the local community, and at the same time encourage people to reconnect with nature.

They currently have two food forests in Shepton – including one in Hillmead – and another in Wedmore, with more in the pipeline. There's also a market garden at Rock Farm, which is used to grow produce for food banks and will also help stock the Shepton Community Fridge when it is up and running.

Hillmead Forest Garden

The initiative caught the eye of Coldplay's sustainability team. FFP founder, Tristan Faith, said, "Coldplay donate a certain amount of money every year to big environmental charities.

This year they decided they wanted to give half of what they give to international charities to grass roots charities, like us.

"We were put forward, and they loved what we are doing, so we will be getting a certain amount of funding from them for three years.

"Coldplay have also just started their world tour in conjunction with the Coldplay app, and we are featured on that, which has really helped in terms of profile and donations. It's incredible for us."

The extra cash will help fund more food forests, and also a ranger who helps to manage the team of volunteers who help to keep the projects running.

"Our mission is to have a food forest in every village, town and city in Somerset," said Tristan.

But what exactly is a 'food forest'? "The best way to describe it is somewhere between an allotment and an orchard," explains Tristan. "Allotments aren't accessible to a lot of people – they can be expensive, and they are high maintenance – while orchards are not very diverse. The middle ground is a food forest, which is very low maintenance.

"We start by planting three 'layers' – the canopy layer of berries etc, then a mid-layer of things like pears and apples, then the likes of chestnuts and hazels. Then the aim is that there will be another four layers planted by the community.

Planting at the Shepton Mallet forest garden

"The food forests then produce food, which the community can harvest and eat."

But planting food forests isn't cheap. "It costs around £700 an acre," says Tristan. "Although once they are up and running they are high yield.

"On a two acre plot – if we are planting hedgerows, we will need around 900 trees. So far, we have plated around 400 trees. We are fortunate because we have been given trees by the Woodland Trust, and Conservation Volunteers, but it is still expensive to get started. But once it is up and running a food forest is low cost, and we are starting to be able to take cuttings and germinate them ready for planting in another plot."

Plans for a food forest in Evercreech are underway, with a possibility of more in Bruton and/or Nettlebridge also being considered. But in order to keep expanding the FFP needs more volunteers and more funds. "We always thought the difficult thing would be getting plots," said Tristan. "But actually it's time, and it's donations. At the moment we have about 6 or 7 volunteers, but as the community fridge opens and the need for produce increases, we will need more people to help us produce more food, but helping with things like watering and weeding and germinating seeds.

"We also have a membership scheme which starts at just £3.50 a month. Members get invited to our events and get free tea and cakes."

Find out more about The Food Forest Project, and how you can get involved, HERE