Daventry housebuilder helps education centre start beekeeping project

Bellway, which is building new homes at Staverton Lodge off Staverton Road in Daventry, donated £400 to Green Acres Rural Enterprises CIC in Staverton for the project. The money will go towards beehive equipment, beekeeping suits and equipment to make beeswax candles and beeswax furniture polish.

The centre offers alternative provision for young people aged between 14 and 16 who do not attend mainstream education full-time and gives them a range of experiences – such as cooking, growing vegetables and working in the farm shop – to increase their confidence and skills.

Heather Wilson, Director at Green Acres Rural Enterprises CIC, said: “We are delighted that Bellway have supported our beekeeping project. We’re looking forward to purchasing new beehive equipment, such as brood boxes and nucleus boxes, so we have additional beekeeping equipment to observe the bees we’ve got at our farm and also start new colonies of bees.

“We’ll also look to purchase beekeeping suits with veils so that our students can look in the hives without being stung, and equipment to make beeswax candles and beeswax furniture polish to be sold in our little farm shop. By our apiary, we have made an area where we will be planting wildflowers that are particularly useful for providing pollen and nectar to bees.”

Green Acres Rural Enterprises is a Community Interest Company, so it can apply for grants to help with its projects, and also earns funds through running its café and farm shop.

Heather said: “We’re very grateful for the private donations we receive. As Bellway are building new homes around the corner from where we’re based, I reached out to see whether they could help us purchase new resources which would be put to good use on our farm. So I was delighted when they came back and offered to help us buy new equipment for our beekeeping project.

“Our volunteers go to school and then work on the farm for one or two days a week to get additional work experience. As well as learning essential life skills and gaining work experience we hold a variety of classes including willow weaving, pottery, blacksmithing and woodworking.

“Thanks to Bellway’s donation, we can now teach our volunteers about apiculture and its agricultural benefits.”

Angela Nurse, Head of Sales for Bellway South Midlands, said: “It’s important to us that the homes we deliver benefit the wider community as well as the people who live in them. When Heather contacted us we were more than happy to help.

“Green Acres Rural Enterprises CIC offers invaluable opportunities for young people to learn life skills and gain work experience. We hope our donation will go a long way towards starting and maintaining the beekeeping project and we look forward to continuing our relationship with the centre.”

For more information about homes at Staverton Lodge, call the sales team on 01327 530197 or visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/south-midlands/staverton-lodge.