In autumn 2025, the third year of Share the Harvest invited everyone in North Lancashire to join in and help prevent fruit waste from local trees such as apples, pears, plums and damsons. Read more about how it went in this blog post.
Share the Harvest is a seasonal festival of gleans (scroll down to find out what “gleaning” means!), events and workshops happening all over Lancaster District.
Could you, your organisation, business or community group organise an event to help rescue surplus fruit and fight food waste? In autumn 2026, you’re invited again to join in with a local gleaning event, a workshop on juicing, cooking and preserving fruit or by hosting a glean in your garden, orchard or farm. Donated surplus will be distributed through Eggcup’s network.
Support is available for community groups and charities to cover event expenses. You can express interest in a grant when you register your event.
Or if you’d like to join gleaning events as a volunteer, sign up to join the North Lancashire Gleaning Network.
Host a glean
Do you have fruit trees that need harvesting? Or know of fruit trees in your neighbourhood that don’t get harvested? Contact Jay at Jay_CL@eggcup.org to find out more about hosting a picking activity, borrowing harvesting tools or an apple press.
Organise an event
Share the Harvest is happening all over North Lancashire. Could you, your community group, organisation or business organise a fruit picking activity, workshop or harvest celebration? Borrow harvesting tools, apply for a support grant, ask for help and add your event to the programme.
Get the free resource pack
Download our resource pack to help spread the word about Share the Harvest and promote your own event: Recipe cards, Canva templates for leaflets and social media, a useful “How to organise a gleaning activity” guide, bokashi compost soil improver recipe & more.
Join in as a volunteer
Would you like to spend a fun day out, connecting with your local community and making new friends while rescuing surplus fruit that would otherwise go to waste? Sign up as a gleaning volunteer to get invited to future gleans.
Juice your apples
If you have more apples than you can use, or varieties that would make a great juice or cider, you can use the Claver Hill Community Apple Press free of charge.
Please note: Moyna’s email has changed from previous years, so make sure to use the correct one listed on the event description.
These recipes use apples, pears and other seasonal fruit and vegetables and were collected from local residents in North Lancashire. Find more local food recipes, or share your own recipe.
Gleaning is a community practice of harvesting surplus crops that would otherwise go to waste.
Traditionally, it is an ancient practice where crops left over after the harvest are collected from farmers’ fields. Even today, it happens surprisingly often that it is not commercially viable for a farmer to harvest all their crop, leading to food waste and loss of profits for farmers. And so this practice is now being revived by community groups across the UK, making sure surplus produce is harvested by volunteers and redistributed for bellies, not bins.
Somewhat different from “scrumping” or “dumpster diving”, which may not have the consent of the owner of the land or tree, our gleans are entirely legal and done in cooperation with the owners. It’s a win-win for anyone too busy to harvest all their crops, for volunteers to have a fun day out and take home some fresh produce, and ultimately for people in need of extra food.
It’s not waste – unless we waste it! The harvested crops are in perfect edible condition, and are far from being waste. Eggcup‘s excellent redistribution system ensures that all harvested food gets redistributed to those most in need, and that any excess is processed and preserved so as little as possible goes to waste.
The North Lancashire Gleaning Network is coordinated by Eggcup and the Closing Loops project. You can join the network as a gleaning volunteer or support it by hosting a glean on your farm, orchard or community garden. To find out more, please get in touch.
Likewise, if you are a food producer, wholesaler or retailer and need a solution for redistributing surplus food, please get in touch with Eggcup.
This work has stemmed from Feedback’s work on gleaning. To find gleaning networks in other parts of the country, please visit the Feedback gleaning network page.
Closing Loops is a collaborative project created to stimulate a thriving local economy in North Lancashire. You can find out more about Closing Loops on the Closing Loops project page.
SHARE THE HARVEST: EVENTS PROGRAMME
Could your community group or organisation host an event during harvest season? Get in touch now to add your event to the calendar, or for support with organising a fruit picking activity.
And please sign up to the monthly FoodFutures newsletter (at the bottom left of this page) to stay in the loop on local food events and other news.
Apple picking in Heysham and Slyne
Sharing Nature’s Wisdom: Nature Folklore Walk
Wild Food & Wild Medicine Foraging Walk
Lancaster’s Harvest Market
Christ Church Apple Festival
Introduction to Preserving Produce with 4 local preservers
St Thomas' Church, Lancaster
Harvest walk at Freeman’s Wood
