As we all know 2020 has not really gone to plan, and we, like a lot of other charities, have struggled with the cancellation of many of our own events and workshops, as well as the others we attend throughout the year like Gardening Scotland, The Royal Highland Show and the Dundee Flower and Fruit Festival.
However, we did manage to host our annual beeswax workshop, where our keen members and friends were given the opportinity to learn all about beeswax and then create some master pieces of their very own. What a talented bunch!
Despite the lack of events, we’ve given away materials and resources to many interested groups. Across Scotland our beekeeping members and charity volunteers have spent a lot of their free time educating individuals, schools and groups on the need for supporting honey bees and beekeepers. Their audiences are always thrilled to learn all sorts of wonderful facts and figures, and the more experienced beekeepers will tell you that you never stop learning where honeybees and beekeeping are concerned!
One focus this year has been to support some of the secondary schools who are teaching the new SQA approved awards in beekeeping. We’ve had the pleasure of working with members of the ‘Bee Havin’ club at Glengarnock Community Campus and the Bee Club at Annan Academy.
So a HUGE thank you to everyone at Vegware for your monthly donation, this meant we have been able to give away over 3,600 ‘Bee Happy and What to Grow’ leaflets and bee friendship bracelets to schools and interested groups in areas including Easter Ross, Skye, Aberdeen, Dundee, Lanarkshire, Helensburgh, Newbattle, Kilbarchan, Fenwick and Troon. And we have given out enough pollinator friendly small seed packets to hopefully see over 125m2 of wild flower strips popping up in an area near you.
Like all things in nature, we find our environment is ever changing, and never more so than this year. But again like nature, we have adapted to suit the new norm. We wanted to ensure we met our main chairtable aims of supporting honeybees and hobby beekeepers across Scotland, so we decided to take a lot of our events online. We conducted our first ever online Annual General Meeting in March and since the summer have hosted monthly online education sessions, with guest beekeeping speakers and panelists from across the globe. These online sesssions are run by our volunteers and offered for free to anyone, anywhere in the world, whilst we as a charity absorb the running and hosting costs.
These online events have definitely broadened our reach and strengthened our position as not only a national bee charity, but also as an international supporter of honeybees and beekeepers around the globe. What a truly priveledged position to bee in!
We couldn’t have done any of this without our many volunteers, members and supporters like you so…
