Beelines North East ‘bringing the buzz back’ to gardening for young people

To celebrate National Allotments Week, local initiative, Beelines North East is encouraging and working with young people across Newcastle to get into gardening, to provide a healthy and balanced ecosystem.

Beelines North East is a project created by Urban Green Newcastle in partnership with Northumberland Wildlife Trust. Its main aim is to ‘bring the buzz back’ to the city and its surroundings.

Urban Green Newcastle is an independent charity, funded by the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge. It is responsible for the management and upkeep of 33 parks and 61 allotments in Newcastle. The charity supports young people and volunteer groups in helping to improve and protect the city’s green spaces and the wildlife population.

They are huge advocates for responsible gardening and are helping young people to connect with nature, while battling climate change and taking care of pollinators and other creatures.

National Allotments Week, which has been running since August 8 and will end August 14, was developed by the National Allotment Society (NAS). The week helps to spread awareness of allotments and their positive impact on the environment, healthy lifestyles and communities.

This year’s event theme is Bugs, Bees, and Broccoli. The NAS want to change the negative perception of bugs, by bringing awareness to the benefits they bring to gardens and allotments. Themed activities are taking place this week, including planting in Walker Park with the YMCA, seed bomb making in Denton Park as part of their Nature Discovery Days and a drop-in session at Jesmond Dene’s Pets Corner where children can paint their own pot and plant herbs to take home with them.

Ed Chivers, Project Manager for Beelines North East said: “We are delighted to be playing a part in this year’s National Allotments Week and encouraging young people across Newcastle upon Tyne to turn their fingers green and look after the needs of their garden pollinators.

“Allotments play a big role in the helping to balance and support our eco-systems and our pollinators as well as providing us with food, so we hope that our events and activities will help the people of Newcastle realise the part they can play in making sure that these creatures and habitats can continue to thrive and provide for our needs.”

For more information on activities around National Allotments Week you can visit the Urban Green Newcastle website or follow them on social media.