Arundel & South Downs MP Andrew Griffith visited a group of schoolchildren at Arundel CE School to hear more about their involvement with the new Arundel Wildflower Project.
Schoolchildren have been gifted seed bags and information packs so they can sow wildflowers in their gardens to support bees and nature. Each 3g seed bag covers one square metre, and with 410 local children involved with the project it is enough to cover the equivalent of 45 car parking spaces.
The project is the concept of Arundel residents Martin Alderton and Karen Tunnicliffe of Arundel Tours who themselves were inspired by the Arundel Bee Project. They wanted to do something to encourage the types of flowers pollinators need to thrive and helping to create a bee-friendly town.
Arundel hopes to become the UK’s first bee-friendly town, a title which would be awarded by The Bee Friendly Trust and which Andrew fully supports.
The children gave the MP a special presentation of their fact-finding to explain why this project is so important to them.
Andrew Simpson, headteacher of Arundel CE School, said:
“We wanted the children to understand that bees help in the production of roughly one third of the food we eat. We want the pupils to know that bees are in trouble, but we can help make a difference - both locally and nationally - if we act in an environmentally friendly way. We also want them to keep in mind that bees are important to all of us — they are powerful pollinators that we rely on for our food supply. And, if we can let them know that insecticides and pesticides are harmful to them, it’s knowledge they can pass onto their parents.
“This project allows us to focus and develop a curriculum at the school that is based on first-hand experience and allows the children to explore their beautiful local environment. We want to create proactive citizens who put the needs of the many over the needs of the few.”
Andrew Griffith said:
“I was delighted to meet the children at Arundel School who are taking part in this local project. They were full of enthusiasm, knowledge and a genuine care for their environment. Martin and Karen’s Wildflower Project is a fantastic idea to inspire and grow the awareness needed to protect our important pollinators.
“I would love to see Arundel declared as the first bee friendly town and to see wildflower patches springing up all across the area.”
ENDS
Notes
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Photograph: L-R – Martin Alderton and Karen Tunnicliffe, Joe Riley of Arundel Town Council, Andrew Griffith, and Adam, Poppy, Mackenzie, Charlotte, Oliver, Oscar, Jemima and Maddy.
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To read more about the Arundel Wildlflower Project 2021 see https://www.visitarundel.co.uk/wildflower-initiative-as-part-of-arundel-bee-project/.
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To read more about The Arundel Bee Project see https://arundelbeeproject.org/.
