Young dads get involved in Bee-Keeping in Gateshead to tackle climate change
Teenage fathers from across the North East are getting involved in a project to tackle climate change at Gateshead's Baltic Arts centre.
Teenage fathers from across the North East are getting involved in a project to tackle climate change at Gateshead's Baltic Arts centre.
Funding for the Birds, Bees, Bikes and Trees project has come from the National Lottery - for North East Young Dads and Lads.
The project is celebrating World Bee Day after receiving £584,000 of National Lottery funding to help young dads in the region become the next generation of beekeepers.
The Birds, Bees, Bikes and Trees project is a collaboration between charity North East Young Dads & Lads (NEYDL), Newcastle University, and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, and sees young dads in the region build their skills and confidence in areas such as habitat management and honey production.
Reflecting the lofty ambitions of the project, four bee hives have been installed on the 138ft high rooftop of the Baltic, and will be available to train the young dads, and provide a safe home for around 160,000 bees in mid-summer, as well as a new attraction for visitors to the former Gateshead flour mill.
Set up in 2017, NEYDL works with marginalised and disadvantaged young dads aged under 25 in the North East, the majority of which are not in education or employment when they arrive.
Here they attend a range of support services and workshops, including advice on parenting and employability, as well as meet up with other dads in their position through a Cycling Club, stay and play groups, a ‘Dungeon and Dads’ gaming group, and other social activities.
The Birds, Bees, Bikes and Trees project has received funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, as part of its 10-year £100million Climate Action Fund programme.
Many of the dads have progressed into volunteering and paid work, with one young dad launching his own brand of honey, ‘Raw&Rich’, made from three hives in the west of Gateshead, which is sold online and at outlets including the nearby Staiths Café.
Honey from the Rooftop Roof hives is sold in the Baltic gift shop and features on Baltic Kitchen’s menu.
World Bee Day takes place on 20th May each year and raises awareness of the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy. Figures from the World Wildlife Fund show that more than 1,000 British species are at risk of extinction, and 140 have gone extinct in the UK.
NEYDL have been careful to keep each of their apiaries at no more than four beehives to avoid causing a shortage of forage for other species of bees and undertake walks all through the season to monitor forage availability.
NEYDL Founder CEO Kevin Stoodley, said: “The interest in World Bee Day highlights the growing strength of feeling around the UK’s declining bee population and the issue of climate change more generally. These have always been issues close to our heart as a parenting support charity that wants the very best for young fathers, their partners and children, for generations to come.
“Thanks to National Lottery players, we are excited to continue our climate action journey through the Birds, Bees, Bikes and Trees project, which has also embraced cycling, both as a way of reducing our carbon footprint and a way of reconnecting our young dads with nature.”
Director of Baltic, Sarah Munro MBE, said: “At Baltic, we take a long-term commitment to climate action, and that runs through our operation and artistic vision.
"Whilst we’re primarily known as a gallery showing international art, we are also home to roof beehives and the most inland kittiwake colony in the world.
"The funding awarded by The National Lottery Community Fund for Birds, Bees, Bikes & Trees means we can bring engagement with climate action alive for communities on a significant scale.”