Youngsters from a Carlisle primary school have won a competition to design a bee-friendly flowerbed in the city’s Bitts Park.
Year four pupils of St Bede’s put together their plans for the flowerbed and entered the competition, run by Carlisle City Council.
The creative pupils have now seen their design come to life when they helped plant out their flowerbed, as part of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Big Buzz Conference and Fringe.
And it’s not just bees the new bed will help. There are 5,000 species of pollinators in Cumbria, which also include moths, butterflies, beetles, flies and wasps.
Lucy Graham, green spaces officer for Carlisle City Council visited Carlisle primary schools throughout June, talking to pupils about the importance of green spaces, pollinators, and wildflowers.
Carlisle City councillor Nigel Christian, portfolio holder for environment and transport, said: “Lucy and the schoolchildren explored the diversity of pollinators and why they are important. This project with Cumbria Wildlife Trust is part of ongoing works by Carlisle City Council to improve our green spaces for pollinators and wildlife. The school children’s vision has now been made a reality – with a new flowerbed – designed by them in Bitts Park.”
Mike Oliver, a teacher at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School said: “The key for me was seeing how inspired the children were as Lucy got them to think about nature and our environment. They saw the importance of protecting pollinators and creating areas for them to thrive.
“They worked together brilliantly to design gardens, thinking carefully about the plants they needed, to attract as wide a variety of pollinators as possible. I thought they all did an incredible job.”
Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Big Buzz Conference and Fringe was held in Carlisle between September 23 and 25. It was the UK’s biggest gathering of pollinator enthusiasts and professionals, organised and hosted by the Get Cumbria Buzzing! project.
