There are 5,000 different species of pollinators in Cumbria, including bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, flies and wasps. But these pollinating insects are in trouble, with numbers declining everywhere. So with the help of Carlisle City Council and Cumbria Wildlife Trust, groups of school children have been doing their bit to help, by creating designs for a new flowerbed for a Carlisle park.

In June the council ran a competition for a group of primary schools to design a raised flowerbed for Bitts Park. The winner was St Bede’s Catholic Primary School (Year 4) and the creative pupils have now seen their design come to life in September when they helped plant out their flowerbed, as part of our Big Buzz Conference and Fringe.   

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 Cllr Nigel Christian, Portfolio holder for Environment and Transport, said: “Lucy and the school children 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.”

After Lucy’s visits to schools this summer, one Year 4 pupil said:

"I will be kind to bees and flies even though I’m scared of them, now I know we need them for flowers." 

Another said: "Finding all the flowers on the board was really fun because you had to run and find them. The hardest one to find is the bee." Others said they found it very calming to draw flowers.

Mike Oliver, 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."

Our Big Buzz National Pollinator Conference and Fringe was made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and is the culmination of Get Cumbria Buzzing.  It was the UK’s biggest gathering of pollinator enthusiasts and professionals, organised and hosted by the Get Cumbria Buzzing project. There was a packed fringe programme, including family activities and big planting events. More information here.