Thanks to Carlene for this positive news that over £5,000 was collected at the recent Isle of Wight Festival. In her own words. Ed
Local bees will be buzzing with delight after a local charity raised £5,322.98 at the Isle of Wight Festival to help secure their future. Gift to Nature, an Isle of Wight conservation partnership, were also there to raise awareness of bees, the roles they play in our lives and how we can help them.
Working with volunteers and local businesses, Gift to Nature built and managed The Hive, an area in the Festival for chilling out away from the busy Festival traffic.
Lots of new additions at The Hive
The Hive this year consisted of 100s of wooden, locally hand-crafted bees, over 400 metres of hand-sewn bee bunting as well as the Bubble Earth sculpture and of course volunteers, some dressed as bees themselves.
Sam Buck, Gift to Nature Project Manager said “We’d like to say a big thank you to all our volunteers and to the companies who supported us, in particular JMC Hire. This is our fourth year at the Isle of Wight Festival and we were amazed at the positive response we received. Our fluffy bees and “Let it Bee” postcards were big sellers and the money raised will specifically enable us to continue to manage our unique bee sites across the Island like the Field of Hope in Newchurch”.
Thanks to Nora Boswell for Field of Hope
Ian Boyd, Head of Environment at Natural Enterprise commented “The Field of Hope is not only a truly extraordinary place for wild bees, but it ranks amongst the most important sites on the Island, regionally and nationally. From the Field of Hope we are learning what bees need, the habitats required and how we can manage these for the future.”
He added “We must not forget to thank Nora Boswell, owner of the Field of Hope. Without her encouragement and support we would not be in the position to help bees as we can today”.
Searching for new sites
Gift to Nature is now searching for new sites which can be improved and enhanced to become a breeding home for the declining number of bees.
The surveying and management carried out at the Field of Hope, has enabled us to develop a blueprint of what makes a successful home for bees which will be the foundation for future work on the Island and nationally.
Gift to Nature is delivered by Natural Enterprise, part of the Island 2000 Trust, registered charity 1083233. For more information visit our website or call Natural Enterprise directly on 535888.
