Our story
Acronym Community Empowerment (ACE) is a charity organisation in Liverpool that supports disadvantaged women, their families, and young adults by delivering a range of education and training programmes. One of programmes they implemented that brought people together was "Save Our Bees".
Save Our Bees helped people to reconnect with nature and was an opportunity for local people to connect outdoors and increase their mental and physical wellbeing. It made young people fall in love with the simple things around them and they began to take notice of nature and actively participate in bee husbandry.
We were able to make a greater impact with appearances on BBC News North West and the Liverpool Echo and interviews on BBC Radio Merseyside, and had a fantastic endorsement by the Metro Mayor's, Steve Rotheram, visit to our apiary.
By the end of the project we established 24 beehives; engaged thirty 7-11 year olds, four volunteers and ten adult beekeepers; spread the word to three other community groups; and involved two local primary schools.
Our advice
Our initiative aimed to deliver an activity that everyone benefited from and to develop a small scale community action that celebrates the importance of community-led climate action.
Our project aimed to make people aware that British bees are dying out fast in the UK due to urbanisation, deforestation, chemical pollution and changing climates and environmental conditions. Current statistics estimate that 97% of grasslands have been lost, making survival increasing difficult for bees.
Our aim was to reintroduce skills that help our environment especially accessible for disadvantaged poor communities, to have the experience of handling bees in a safe environment. Bees working together reflects how we should all come together to create initiatives that heal.
We worked in partnership with Merseyside Bees & Honeycomb, Crawford House, The Caribbean Centre and John Archer Hall. We also established working relationships with Smithdown Road Primary and Windsor Primary school to help sustain the project's impact and introduce a new generation of beekeepers.
Our Changeprint
Our Changeprint can be measured by the number of schools that now include beekeeping in their science and geography curriculum; people's reconnection with nature and our interconnectivity with pollinators; and by helping people gain new skills.
