Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF) has launched a new three-year partnership with The Orchard Project to help create community orchards in some of the UK’s most deprived urban areas.

The initiative will support the planting of orchards in publicly accessible spaces such as parks, schools and community green spaces, with the aim of improving access to nature and bringing communities together.

In its first year, the foundation is investing £50,000 to support orchard projects in London, Swansea and Glasgow.

The first sites include Stoneyfields Park in Edgware, St David’s Catholic Primary School in Swansea and Calder Street Greenspace in Glasgow.

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It is understood these orchards will provide fresh fruit for local communities while creating long-term green spaces where people can spend time outdoors.

Iceland Foods executive chairman and chair of the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation Lord Richard Walker said the partnership reflects a shared commitment to creating healthier and greener communities.

Community orchards can “transform lives as much as landscapes”, he said, by helping people connect with nature and with each other.

The Orchard Project chief executive Kath Rose added that the community orchards offer long-term solutions to social and environmental challenges facing urban areas.

“By equipping urban communities with the skills and resources they need to effectively steward green spaces, we are strengthening food security, enhancing biodiversity, and helping to create a social infrastructure that supports wellbeing and resilience,” she said.

“With IFCF’s support, we will be able to bring orchards into more communities across the UK and help nurture the next generation of orchardists.”

Alongside the planting programme, the partnership will also support The Orchard Project’s schools initiative, which works with children and young people across the UK. It is designed to create outdoor learning spaces, teach practical skills and help young people better understand where food comes from.