Leamington awarded Bee Friendly Town status
Leamington has been awarded a ‘Bee Friendly Town’ status for its work helping pollinators in the town.
The town was awarded the status by the Bee Friendly Trust thanks to the work of Bee Friendly Leamington, which is a small community group whose mission is to help wild bees and other pollinators to thrive.
The group collaborates with other groups and individuals in the area to help raise awareness and to help increase sources of pollen and nectar in green spaces.
Bee Friendly Leamington also runs the Bee Friendly School Awards programme, and have delivered ‘Why Bees Matter’ assemblies to more than 4,000 children in 15 schools, as well as running their Pollen Hunt Challenge, enabling children to gain a better understanding of the difficulties facing wild bees and how they can help them overcome these difficulties.
Jo Harper, chair of Bee Friendly Leamington, said: “I hope this award for the town will inspire more people to get involved in taking action for pollinators.
"We can make a difference, whether it be letting dandelions and other wildflowers live, avoiding weed and insect killers, planting pots or gardens with nectar and pollen rich flowers and trees, such lavender, hollyhock, catmint, hawthorn and fruit trees for bees and hoverflies, or leaving grass to grow longer for butterflies and moths.
"We are very grateful to Councillors Jonathan Chilvers and Will Roberts and Leamington Town Council for the funding that has supported us in our work, and I hope that we can continue to work alongside others to help make a difference well into the future.”
Bee Friendly Leamington was set up in 2023 and now joins the Kenilworth Bee Friendly group in achieving the Bee Friendly Town status.
Bee Friendly Kenilworth was started in 2020 and was awarded the status in 2022. It was one of the first six locations to be officially named as such.
Warwick’s Bee Friendly group was set up in 2022 and has also been awarded the status this year.
For more information about Bee Friendly Leamington or the Bee Friendly School Awards, email: [email protected]
The group will also be available to chat to at the Wilder Patches nature event event organised by ARC on June 7 at All Saints’ Parish Church in Leamington.