A project launched to bring Londoners closer to local food and to embrace fruit grown in the capital has reported a successful first year.

The London Orchard Project hopes to connect Londoners with local food and wildlife and in its inaugural year has planted orchards on 12 sites in nine boroughs around the capital and trained 50 orchard leaders in orchard management skills.

The project works in conjunction with community groups and local authorities to design, plant and maintain community orchards before training people in management of orchards and providing distribution models.

The project's director Carina Dunkerley told the Guardian: “It's very exciting for us to think that London now has more than 100 new fruit trees across 11 sites both north and south of the river, thanks to the hard work of our orchard leaders and partner community groups.”

Dunkerley added that the project was to harvest its first apples, pears and plums in the coming years, with some heritage varieties included.

The project has already started identifying sites and groups to work with in further initiatives in three Transition Towns.