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Bees&Seas

Funded on Spacehive 2 May 2021

Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.

Bees&Seas

Bees&Seas

We Are FoodPioneers CIC By We Are FoodPioneers CIC

The Bees&Seas project will transform a disused urban council yard at Brooklands Park between Worthing and Lancing, turning it into an educational pollinator hub and outdoor teaching space.

Sompting Delivery stage

29
backers
£26,205
raised
funded icon
This project was funded on 02 May 2021!

We have written permission to use the land from our Local Authority and a license agreement is currently being drawn up. No funds will be transferred to the project until the license agreement is finalised and shown to Spacehive. Bees&Seas is a local project born from a common passion for wildlife and connecting communities to nature across land and sea. Three community groups and social enterprises - Friends of Brooklands Park, Creative Waves CIC and We Are FoodPioneers CIC - have come together to bring their respective expertise, skills and passion to creating a community beekeeping and pollination project in the heart of Brooklands Park, in an area which sits outside of the local council's Brooklands master plan. Together, we will establish an educational and training venue and programme centering around bees and other pollinators, with the local neighbourhood helping to create and manage the site alongside the project partners.

What we'll deliver:

  • Create five pollinator friendly bug hotels
  • Plant fruit trees in our mobile skip garden
  • Create 60m of native hedgerow edging to support a diverse range of wildlife
  • Set up three beehives to train volunteer beekeepers and run educational sessions
  • Create a shipping container classroom with green roofs that will provide food for pollinators year-round
  • Train up a minimum of five volunteer beekeepers with support from the local beekeeping societies
  • Run six educational sessions with schools within the next 12 months
  • Recruit and train up a diverse team of at least 20 regular volunteers
  • Hold at least ten new events for the local community within the next 12 months

Why it's a great idea:

With the funding received the project partners will create climate resilient eco pollinator gardens, with learning spaces, bee friendly bee hives, and a hub for the local community. Within the next 12 months we will engage at least 500 local residents directly, providing training and upskilling opportunities in a variety of areas. With this project a degraded industrial area of parkland, which has been neglected for decades, will be transformed to become a true natural asset for the local community. We will create new areas of chalk grassland and vegetated shingle, pollinator habitats, and a skip garden with orchard trees. This will greatly enhance the local park area, also providing a much needed nature corridor from the Downs to the sea. Together with a wide network of local organisations, with all of us working together and collaborating on shared aims and ambitions, we will be able to sustain the hub and community activity far into the future.

Steps to get it done:

  • Remove existing old shipping containers & recycle - Feb
  • Site new shipping containers in the compound - March
  • Create a sustainable design for the space with partners - Feb
  • Creative Waves will create murals on the shipping containers - March/April (weather dependant)
  • Green roofs created on the containers one shingle & one lump chalk - plant with local pollinator friendly plants - April
  • Wooden Planters installed (including boat) + skip gardens + general planting - April/May
  • Water harvesting system installed including log guttering and waterbutts - April
  • Purchase Langstroth bee hives to be painted by the community - April
  • Create enclosed teaching apiary - April/May
  • Fit out containers one for workshops and one for storage of tools & equipment + open site - May
  • Natural Log Hive installed at Dankton Barnyard with Breathing Spaces + 1 - April in Brooklands
  • Programme of workshops and events delivered Summer 21 (adhering to C-19 restrictions) August
  • Programme of volunteer activity and beekeeping training - May/June/July
  • Wildflower Planting around site - March
  • Remove, recycle and reuse all materials which have been abandoned around the site start Feb ongoing
  • Evaluate and review activity - October

We have already received pledges from local businesses who will support this community hub with free equipment, a unique classroom facility and pollinator friendly plants. Now we need your support to help us bring this project to its buzzing life!

Location Sompting

About the space

Custom Location

Council

Worthing Borough Council

How will the money be spent?Total £26,196

2 x shipping containers and green roof structure for classroom - £10,000 (38%)
Project management for the first 12 months - £3,400 (13%)
Friends of Brooklands volunteering - £2,400 (9%)
Solar lighting for classroom space and outdoor teaching area - £2,000 (8%)
Co-design plans, paint classroom shipping container & skip garden in partnership with Creative Waves - £2,000 (8%)
3 non-traditional hives (1 x Freedom Hive, 1 x Observation Hive, 1 x Log Hive) - £1,250 (5%)
Delivery of educational workshops in partnership with Creative Waves CIC - £1,000 (4%)
Master beekeeper x 8 days to help train up volunteer beekeepers - £800 (3%)
Purchase of lump chalk, wildflower seeds and marine shingle to create a pollinator friendly habitat - £775 (3%)
Beekeeping courses for five volunteers - £725 (3%)
Other - £1,846 (7%)

Costs Breakdown

This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.

38%
2 x shipping containers and green roof structure for classroom
£10,000
13%
Project management for the first 12 months
£3,400
9%
Friends of Brooklands volunteering
£2,400
8%
Solar lighting for classroom space and outdoor teaching area
£2,000
8%
Co-design plans, paint classroom shipping container & skip garden in partnership with Creative Waves
£2,000
5%
3 non-traditional hives (1 x Freedom Hive, 1 x Observation Hive, 1 x Log Hive)
£1,250
4%
Delivery of educational workshops in partnership with Creative Waves CIC
£1,000
3%
Master beekeeper x 8 days to help train up volunteer beekeepers
£800
3%
Purchase of lump chalk, wildflower seeds and marine shingle to create a pollinator friendly habitat
£775
3%
Beekeeping courses for five volunteers
£725
7%
Other Read More
£1,846
  • 2 x skips for skip garden
    £500
  • Contribution to overheads
    £400
  • Eco paint for classroom and skip garden
    £350
  • Transport for containers and skips
    £250
  • Spacehive fees
    £165
  • Additional Wildflower Seeds
    £125
  • VAT
    £33
  • Transaction Fees
    £24

Overfunding

This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:

  • Buy more beekeeping equipment for young beekeepers
  • Increase size of planting area and buy more plants
  • Increase community activities programme

Total £26,196

Our Volunteer List

We're currently looking for people to offer skills and time to develop our project! Check out the list of what we need below and then use the 'Volunteer' button to the right to get involved.

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