‘Get Barnsley Buzzing’
Wentworth Castle Gardens is pleased to announce that it has been awarded funding from the Ernest Cook Trust to deliver a project to raise awareness of the need to provide a space for bees in urban areas. The project, based in the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council area begins this month and runs until the end of August this year. Every school involved will receive at least 3 sessions which will tell the stories of the impact bees have on our lives and landscapes and the importance of making space for them. The sessions will be informative and entertaining and practical help will be offered on making the schools grounds bee friendly. Pupils will learn about bee friendly plants and be given the opportunity to sow seeds and grow on them on for planting, making a positive difference to the school environment.
A monthly Newsletter to schools and a regularly updated blog on the Wentworth Castle Trust web site will keep project participants in touch with what other schools in the project are doing so that skills and knowledge will be cascaded across the ‘Buzzing’ Community.
Participating schools will be able to enter a competition to design a bee friendly ‘pocket’ garden and the winning designs will be built in a sector of the Union Jack Gardens at Wentworth Castle Gardens during the early summer of 2016. The Union Jack Gardens at Wentworth Castle date from the eighteenth century and to give uniqueness to the project it is proposed that the bee friendly gardens will be designed using plants available during that period.
During 2016 visitors to Wentworth Castle Gardens will be able to learn about the schools’ project and bees and bee friendly planting. The Trust aims to increase planting of bee-friendly species on the estate. We will build bug hotels and bee boxes in suitable places in the formal gardens and run a series of events for all ages.
If you would like your school to become one of the twelve schools involved in the project, I would welcome the opportunity to come along and talk to you about it in greater detail.
The Ernest Cook Trust is one of the UK’s leading outdoor learning charities. Rooted in the conservation and management of the countryside, the Trust actively encourages children and young people to learn from the land through hands-on outdoor learning opportunities on its estates and by offering grants.