Our 2017 Journey
3 July 2017 – Launch
Welcome to Falling Fruit Ireland!
Falling Fruit is a project to harvest the seasonal glut of local fruit (apples, pears, plums, nuts, etc.) throughout the Dublin area and around the country and to give it to charities that cater for those in need. Each year hundreds of fruit trees go unpicked.
‘Falling Fruit’ organises a team of volunteers who pick the fruit and distribute it to local charities or other good causes.
We are planning our 2017 activities and we invite you to get involved! Join us and take part in Food Waste Prevention, Urban Harvesting, Food Charity Support and great outdoor activity!
3 July 2017
Cherry Picking!
Yesterday we had our first fruit picking of the year in Dublin 12. One of our volunteers saved many cherries from going to waste and shared them with others. While they didn’t go to a charity, because Falling Fruit does not pick soft fruits for charities, they were saved and enjoyed!
7-7-17 today but we have already passed the 7,717 “people reached” on this page so we would like to say a huge thanks to all of you who have liked and especially those who have shared the page! Thank you! We will be very grateful for your continued support in spreading the word so that we can organise the work around the country!
12 July 2017
Feeling very thankful for the support for Falling Fruit Ireland! Also to Dublin Inquirer for an article published today.
15 July 2017
Today we collected some Rhubarb in Crumlin. It wasn’t a big quantity but the event was big on goodness! As with all food sharing meetings it was uplifting. It is heart – warming to meet people who are willing to give of their free time to collect surplus food and bring it to families in need. Many thanks to our donor Niamh and to our volunteers Amirah and Louise who are making sure that the food goes where it is needed.
We are happy to collect small quantities of fresh home-grown food where possible. If you know of groups in need of food support please contact us. We can direct some food to them.
16 July 2017
Meeting with Aoibheann of FoodCloud last Friday to make plans for the Autumn fruit harvest!
27 July 2017
Good harvest today – plums for people, for jam and even some for animals. Windfall apples also for animals. Huge thanks to Kate and Ross for donating and to Louise and Amirah for volunteering.
25 August 2017
Fare Documentary
“Here it is, we are delighted to share with you all three episodes! We have really loved working on this project and have met some amazing people working in their community to make the lives of others better. We really hope you enjoy the series, if you do be sure to share!
We recommend watching on a laptop or desktop for the best experience and for access to the guides while watching.
Huge thank you to all of the individuals who contributed in each documentary.”
26 August 2017
Many thanks to Leonie in Rathgar for the apple donation today! Thanks to Gwen and Louise for collecting the apples.
5 September 2017
Falling Fruit will be at the Zero Waste Festival on Saturday next!
8 September 2017
A good week for Falling Fruit!
A Blackrock pick today – many thanks to Margaret who donated eating and cooking apples, to Patricia, Deirdre and Mary who picked the apples and to Patricia who helped with the delivery to a charity in Donnybrook.
Surplus vegetables, courgettes, from Aileen’s allotment in Tallaght were directed to a charity in Tallaght and another allotment holder, Brendan from Mayo, added rhubarb, broccoli and lettuce to the donation.
Dolores in Cabinteely donated pears.
Margaret in Walkinstown donated apples.
Many more offers in!
*We are looking for charities in Dublin who can accept fruit donations at the weekend – if you know of any please let me know.
9 September 2017
Falling Fruit at Zero Festival!
Huge thanks to Fiona and Emma for all the help!
14 September 2017
A lovely piece in the Irish Times and Falling Fruit gets a mention!
16 September 2017
Picks of the week. Huge thanks to my wonderful volunteers this week: Louise who travelled across the city to help pick the apples in Drumcondra and then delivered them to FoodCloud! Today we had a fabulous morning in Rathfarnham – super
helpful volunteers Kate and Ronan helped pick and transport the fruit. Volunteers Louise and Amirah provided much needed help to store the fruit for delivery on Monday to FoodCloud. They also delivered a large bagful to a charity in Tallaght today.
Great appreciation and thanks to Richard in Rathfarnham who donated (for thesecond year) a most perfect crop or apples and served delicious coffee as well!
Thanks to Anna and family in Walkinstown who donated fabulous apples. Many thanks to Anne in Drumcondra for a great donation of apples too. King’s apples went to KARE in Raheny – the King family picked and donated several boxes of apples.
Josie in Dalkey donated her very tasty eating apples for charity.
Much of the fruit picked this week goes to FoodCloud for distribution to charities. We are happy to be able to direct apples to charities with animals – the recent strong winds caused many apples to fall and get bruised – these went to ChildVision Equine centre this week.
Thanks to all of you who are supporting Falling Fruit by sharing the posts and liking.
20 September 2017
It is great to see the offers of surplus fruit coming in – the charities are very pleased and the donors are delighted. Some volunteers are making jams, chutneys, etc. with the fruit and passing it on to charities. Here is a batch made by Triona and delivered to a charity in south Dublin this week.
21 September 2017
Fabulous Falling Fruit day in Blackrock today! Delicious apples, great volunteers, generous donor. Huge thanks to volunteers Patricia and Jeff and donor Bill. Also picked a pear tree in Stillorgan – thanks to Patricia for the donation.
26 September 2017
A great donation of vegetables from Castleknock went to a charity in Blanchardstown yesterday and apples went to a charity in Dundrum. Many thanks to all involved.
We need volunteers for day time fruit picking and delivery during the week around Dublin, Northside and Southside. If you are free in the morning or afternoon and would like to help out with picking or delivering please email bernie@fallingfruit.ie
1 October 2017
Fruitful week! Many thanks to Joanna in Howth who donated fruit and volunteer Sinéad who helped with the picking and delivery; to Bernadette in Drimnagh who donated pears and volunteers Louise and Amirah who picked in Drimnagh and Ballinteer and provided all transport. Thanks to Nuala in Ballinteer who donated her lovely red apples. All fruit going to good causes.
7 October 2017
Delicious apples at our Phibsboro pick yesterday! Thanks to donors Anne and Barry and the very helpful volunteers Theresa and Joost who picked and provided transport.
Generous donations coming in from Harvest Festivals around Dublin – much appreciated!
7 October 2017
Lovely piece in the Irish Times today for National Reuse Month – with a mention of Falling Fruit, WeShare, Dublin Library of Things and much more!
9 October 2017
Huge thanks for the generous donation of fruit and veg offered by Canon Paul Houston of the Church of Ireland Parishes of Castleknock, Clonsilla & Mulhuddart from the Autumn Thanksgiving Harvest Festivals. This donation and a previous one went to the Crosscare Food Bank in Blanchardstown. Many thanks to Jean for looking after everything!
10 October 2017
Lovely apples from Goatstown today – thanks to Jean and John for the donation and to Deirdre and Jeff who took care of the logistics! The fruit goes to a local charity in Goatstown.
11 October 2017
Another generous donation this week – from the Church of Ireland Kilternan Parish, kindly offered by Rev. Rob Clements from the Harvest Thanksgiving. The food went to a local Food Bank. Many thanks to all involved!
12 October 2017
Wonderful event and fruit donation this week from Greenlanes National School in Clontarf. Many thanks to Éilis, the 6th class pupils and to our Falling Fruit representative, Theresa, for such a positive and fruitful event!
Greenlanes National School
12 October 2017
Theresa from Falling Fruit Ireland came to 6th class this week to help pick the fruit from our pear and apple trees. All fruit picked by the children were donated to KARE or Child Vision.
They had great fun picking the fruit and Theresa showed them how to sort them and identify which fruit is best suitable for eating, cooking or for the animals.
13 October 2017
Two more fruit donations this week – Dun Laoghaire and Booterstown. At this point the wind is getting more apples than we are! Many thanks to donors and to Patricia for volunteering and delivering.
15 October 2017
A wonderful highlight of our Falling Fruit season was our visit to the RHSI Walled Garden at Russborugh House yesterday, October 14. We were very kindly allowed in to pick the numerous apple trees in this beautiful garden by garden manager May and we had enormous help from the garden volunteers (this is truly a dream place to volunteer and learn all about gardening).
For this generous donation of apples, we had Helen from FoodCloud with a van to take the fruit back to Dublin. She with the many RHSI garden volunteers and the fabulous Falling Fruit volunteers, Patricia and Aideen, picked, sorted and loaded up the many crates of apples. Afterwards we were treated to a much-needed cuppa and food. An unforgettable day – and huge thanks to all involved.
16 October 2017
Saved a few more apples yesterday, before Ophelia got them! Thanks to Máire for the donation and to Catherine for helping with the picking and delivery!
Stay safe everyone!
23 October 2017
After the battering of Ophelia and Brian last week, sadly, there is very little fruit left on the trees. We are still hopeful for fruit trees in walled gardens though – check out any near you for unharvested fruit please!
Now is a good time to sign up for next year – if you have witnessed the sad sight of apples, pears or other fruit going to waste this year, you can prevent it happening next year by registering your trees or orchard with Falling Fruit now and we will contact you in good time to save your fruit next year. Email bernie@fallingfruit.ie
2 November 2017
One of our volunteers, Gwen, has made chutney from Falling Fruit apples and will sell it to raise funds for the charity MASI.
In other news – small scale food sharing today – chemical free brussels sprouts freshly picked in D8, delivered by bicycle to D6 and shared with #foodshareireann volunteers! We were all brusselin.
9 November 2017
Perhaps our last fruit pick of the season! Many thanks to Bredagh and William @_Rosemount for the great donation of apples today. Lovely time picking with volunteers Patricia and Jean. Huge thanks to Patricia who delivered to @FoodCloud and Jean who also helped with delivery. Thanks to Louise and Amirah who helped with distribution.
10 November 2017
Cairdeas Day Care Centre in Raheny does great work and provides a wonderful service for the local area. It was a pleasure to deliver some fruit (from Rosemount) to Sarah at the centre today – only a small quantity because there is a limit to how much can be transported on a bicycle!
19 November 2017
Had a pleasant visit on Friday to Elmhurst Cottage Farm, a fabulous city farm on the Northside of Dublin, to help pick some apples!
19 November 2017
Apple Friday! Spent a wonderful time at Rosemount collecting apples for the horses at ChildVision in Drumcondra. Huge thanks again to William and Bredagh for donating lots of apples for a good cause. Very grateful to Triona and Catalina who spent hours gathering the apples. The horses seemed very pleased with the taste and quality!
UCD Rosemount Environmental Research Station
20 November 2017
Falling Fruit Ireland is an urban harvesting project aimed at gathering the seasonal glut of local fruit (apples, pears, plums, nuts, etc.) around the country. The collected fruit is then brought to charities such as FoodCloud that caters for those in need in both urban and rural areas. Over the past two weeks, a team of volunteers from Falling Fruit Ireland descended on Rosemount to harvest the last of the fruit from our Lamb Clarke Historic Irish Apple Collection with Ms Bernie Brannick at the helm.
Rosemount apples were also donated to ChildVision, the National Education Centre for blind children. Here, the charity offers a programme of Equine Assisted Occupational Therapy (EAOT) providing horsemanship experiences to persons with physical, sensory, mental health, psychological and intellectual disabilities in order to enhance the quality and productivity of their lives.
It was lovely to see Bernie and her team of volunteers here again as we are always glad to facilitate worthy causes in our community. And while most of this year’s apples have been put to commendable use, the remaining fruit at UCD Rosemount
is destined to become a food source for our overwintering birds and animals…we always aim to help wildlife and humans alike!
23 November 2017
A huge Thanksgiving Day thank you to all of you who supported Falling Fruit this year! Most special thanks to my volunteers who gave so generously of their time, energy and resources. Many thanks to all the donors for the tasty donations; to @Foodcloud for distributing much of the fruit; to the charities who facilitated the donations; to the media outlets that helped spread the word; to all of you on FB who shared, liked and morally supported the project – sincere thanks and much appreciation to all! Bernie
FoodCloud
13 December 2017 at 12:30
Thank You to our Gleaners!
“Thank you to everyone who helped us with our first major gleaning projects in 2017.
Special thanks go to Bernie in Falling Fruit Ireland and to Jeni and Conor at Meade Potato Company who have been particularly great partners to work with.
Thank you very much to all the volunteers who worked with Bernie to help us and the orchard owners who allowed us to take their surplus fruit.”
12 March 2018
Bread Rescue Project commences.
Volunteer Driver needed for a Bread Rescue Project! This week we are setting up this project and need another driver or two. If you live near Rathmines and are willing to drive 4.2 km to deliver bread please contact me – bernie@fallingfruit.ie The
collection is at 20.15. The bread would usually go to waste so we are directing it to a Community Resource Centre.
13 March
A second successful bread rescue! Huge thanks to another wonderful volunteer – Patricia – who helped greatly with collection and delivery!
The bread is available every evening but we don’t have outlets for it at the weekend.
If you know of groups that could use it please contact me: bernie@fallingfruit.ie
I would be happy with more volunteer drivers too!
14 March
Another batch of bread for a charity! It would not be possible without the wonderful volunteers and this evening Laura was the kind and helpful volunteer.
24 March
Another good week of bread rescue. As always, huge thanks to the wonderful volunteers who collect and deliver – Patricia on Tuesday, Mike on Wednesday and Laura on Thursday. The food went to Macro Resource Centre.
Friday evening was amazing despite having no driver! So much food available (thanks to Dunnes) and a charity ready to accept it – it had to be done. A taxi was the only solution. A very kind taxi driver, Darren Walsh, saved us – no fare when he understood the journey was for charity. It was a pleasure to meet Kathleen at the ICHH premises and to know that the food will be put to good use. Well done to ICHH for the wonderful work with the homeless.
Volunteer drivers needed!
26 March
The Sunday selection of bread went for a Homeless Support Evening.
7 April
Back on track with the bread rescue this week.
Last week we only managed two evenings – no charities to take the bread. Huge thanks to Laura and Patricia who took care of the collection and delivery.
Many thanks to this week’s volunteers Patricia, Laura, Neil, Deirdre and Jeff – for their time, care and car use!
Delighted to deliver to ICHH again.
Still looking for groups or charities to take the bread – especially Saturday evening and Sunday evening.
8 April
Inner City Helping Homeless addeda new photo to the albumRandom Acts – Donations — at Inner City Helping Homeless.
A big thank you once again to Bernie from Falling Fruit Ireland who dropped on Friday with her volunteers Deirdre and Jeff with a huge amount of breads and other items to donate to is in #ICHH. They are all pictured with #ICHH Head of Fundraising Pauline. Thanks again for the great support folks.
8 April
Sunday bread doughnations! Huge thanks to our wonderful volunteer, Irene, who did quite a lot of extra driving in order to make sure none of the bread went to waste – deliveries to Crosscare, ICHH and Depaul in Mount Brown.
We are appealing for groups or charities that can take bread on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings – this is when most bread is available. More volunteer drivers too please!
15 April
Another good week for bread doughnations! Many thanks to Laura, Patricia, Theresa, Neil, Ilona, John and Bernie W for the great work collecting and delivering the bread. As last week, the largest quantities were at the weekend and deliveries were made to @InnerCityHelpingHomeless on Friday; Saturday – Whitefriar Food Charity, Iveagh House, Depaul and Peter McVerry and some to #revivedyarn for the Sunday @pizzasundayclub – with special thanks to John who spent his Saturday evening delivering bread; Sunday delivery went to GPO Soup evening organised by Sinead, and some of the bread goes to a good cause in Navan, thanks to Bernie Wright.
20 April
Bread rescue continued this week thanks to Deirdre, Patricia, Laura and Neil. Sadly there was no driver available for this evening and a lot of bread goes to waste. We need more volunteers, especially for the weekends. We also need more outlets for the bread – please let me know of any community resource groups or charities catering for families in need. Driver needed for tomorrow evening!
18 May
Feeling very grateful to the wonderful volunteers who have kept the bread rescue going for the past four weeks – Patricia, Laura, Neil, Deirdre, Jeff, Claire, Ilona, Mike – Mondays to Thursdays.
Again we are looking for drivers for the weekends and outlets for the bread.
Please contact bernie@fallingfruit.ie if you can help.
28 June at 21:37
Our bread rescue continues every week thanks to our wonderful volunteers. This trolley of tasty bread, rolls, croissants, scones and biscuits went to a good cause on Wednesday.
We need a few more volunteer drivers during the summer months with people away on holidays. Please PM if you can do an evening from time to time – Mon-Thur.
