Nature features

A team of volunteers plan to help harvest the city's hundreds of fruit trees that go unpicked each year - either because people don't notice them, may not be able to harvest them or find they have more than they need.

The collective will then redistribute the surplus apples, pears, plums and blackberries to the community on a non-profit basis.

They will also be running workshops on how to turn the produce into jams, juice and crumbles.

Twenty-four-year-old Jenny Butcher from Forest Fields is behind the 'Abundance' project in Nottingham.

"The idea is to find fruit trees across Nottingham that aren't being picked and pick them and redistribute the fruit to the community.

"We go in. Pick some fruit. The homeowners get some, the volunteers get some, we leave some for the wildlife and rest goes to community groups.

"We're hoping to help out [organisations such as] the destitution fund at the Refugee Forum, Sure Start Centres and Base 51."

The scheme is first being launched in Forest Fields, Hyson Green, Radford, New Basford, Sherwood Rise and the Arboretum.

Jenny is also keen to hear from people who'd like to start an 'Abundance' project in other areas of Nottingham.

There are already successful Abunance projects in Sheffield, London and Manchester.

This project is being supported by the Partnership Council charity, via its Sprout project, which was set up in January 2008 to support environmental projects and aims to encourage young people to be proactive about climate change.