Garden Wildlife week encourages you to explore, investigate, learn about, and celebrate the amazing creatures that live in gardens
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation, said, “One of the focuses of our new environmental strategy is projects that include education about local wildlife and nature. During Garden Wildlife week we wanted to talk about one of the many wildlife projects we have funded over the last twenty years. Brogdale Collections, in Faversham, has a Garden for Wildlife to provide interactive education aimed at understanding insects and their place in nature. In 2019 we funded their bee conservation and education project to help preserve this vital species.”
Set in over 150 acres of farmland in Faversham, Brogdale Collections was awarded £4,000 from Kent Community Foundation for their project to help preserve bees in their natural habitat, educate the public about the importance of bees and train local disadvantaged young people to help with the bees.
Sara Smile, Operations Manager, Brogdale Collections, said, “Our bee conservation and education project was designed to help prevent the decline of this important species of wildlife. We used the funding from Kent Community Foundation to set up bee communities and to train volunteers. We initially bought five hives and were thrilled to be able to bottle and sell 150 jars of honey in our first year. Our bee education project has been so popular that we have extended the activities to include bee walks and a bee exhibition. These will be running all next week to tie in with Garden Wildlife week.”
To find out more about Kent Community Foundation’s environmental strategy visit www.kentcf.org.uk/commitment-to-the-environment
Notes to Editors
Brogdale Collections in Faversham is the home of the National Fruit Collection. Set in over 150 acres of farmland, there are over 4000 varieties of fruit trees, from apples, pears, quinces, and plums to cherries. Their Garden for Wildlife provides interactive education aimed at understanding insects and their place in nature.
To find out more about the Brogdale bee walks visit –
www.brogdalecollections.org/event/orchard-crafts-bee-walk
About Garden Wildlife Week
Garden Wildlife Week 2021 will be celebrated between the 31May until the 6 June and celebrates the amazing creatures that live in our gardens.
About Kent Community Foundation
Grant-maker Kent Community Foundation has been finding, funding, and supporting some of the smallest voluntary organisations in the county for 20 years. In this time, it has distributed over £40 million to support thousands of small charities and deserving causes where a modest sum of money can make a significant impact.
They are part of a UK wide accredited network of forty-six Community Foundations who are committed to improving the lives of local people and communities, particularly the most vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged by matching those who want to help, with those who need the help.
Responsible for more than 80 philanthropic funds, Kent Community Foundation is unrivalled in its knowledge of local causes and assists individuals, families, and businesses, who want to help, to establish and administer their own charitable funds.
