As we all know this year has been a tough one for all, and we, like a lot of other charities, have
struggled with the cancellation of many of our own ‘in-person’ 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 still manage to keep a regular engagement with our members and followers
through a variety of means. The most popular of which was our monthly webinar lectures, where we
hosted online guest speakers from across the world, from as far afield as Australia and the States, to
those closer to home. 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!
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
online educating individuals, schools and groups on the need for supporting honey bees and
beekeepers.
We have developed a stronger focus this year on Young Beekeepers, and dedicated several pages in
our monthly magazine to them, as well as setting up a Young Beekeeperds group and appointing a
new Trustee with responsibility for attracting younger members. We have also supported teachers
and several secondary schools who are undertaking the SQA approved awards in beekeeping.
A HUGE thank you to everyone at Vegware for your monthly donation, despite the lack of any public
events, we have still been able to give away over 900 ‘Bee Happy and What to Grow’ leaflets, over
780 bee friendship bracelets and 158 pollinator friendly seed packs to schools and interested groups
across Scotland.
As with all things in nature our operating evirnoment is again set for change, and we are all very
much looking forward to what the next year brings and hopefully a lot more face-to-face
interactions and events, as we’ve missed chatting to all our bee-loved followers! We shall continue
to ensure we meet our main chairtable aims of supporting honeybees and hobby beekeepers across
Scotland, and look forward to hosting lots more online and in-person actvities and events in the
coming months.
And we couldn’t do any of this without our many volunteers, members and supporters like you,
Vegware. Thank you so much and…
