Bees for School Fees: 
Get involved in #GivingTuesday  29th November 2016

#GivingTuesday, a global day of giving, takes place on the Tuesday following Black Friday and Cyber Monday and is a chance to give something back after all that shopping! #GivingTuesday reminds everyone it’s good to give – and encourages people to come together and share the goodwill.
Whether it’s making a donation, volunteering some time or just spreading the word at the start of the Christmas shopping season, #GivingTuesday aims to encourage people, charities and businesses to donate their time, money and/or their voice to help a good cause.

This year, we’re asking our supporters to help us raise funds for a beekeeping project in Brong Ahafo, Ghana.

Bandaman Senior High School has around 300 pupils and although it is heavily subsidized by the Government, it still costs between £25-£75  per year to send a child to school.  This is beyond the reach of most households, and many families are dependent on a good cashew harvest to pay the fees. Therefore, the dropout rate is very high leading to the loss of opportunities for boys and girls and no access to tertiary education.  

Bees Abroad are helping this school and the local community: firstly, beekeeping will provide an income stream for the school to buy extra goods and services and secondly, those who are trained will be able to take their skills into their community thus creating a second income so families become less dependent on the cashew harvest for their livelihoods.

The Deputy Head has asked us to run a school beekeeping club as part of the activity high school programme.  We will focus on training Year 1 and Year 2 children, mainly girls. Beekeeping will be used as part of their education by giving them practical skills in building hives, making bee suits, keeping bees and processing and harvesting honey. Young people will be trained to make value added products from wax and honey, including cosmetics and candles, as well as selling honey. We will of course help them market the products too.

It’s a rallying call to everyone who wants to give something back. And to help you give back even more this year, we’re fundraising for our campaign with Virgin Money Giving who are 100% not-for-profit, which means that when you fundraise through them this #GivingTuesday, even more money goes directly to our charity.

If you would like to support a cause on 29th November, then please consider Bees Abroad and if you have a Twitter or Facebook account, please let everyone know how you support us.  Perhaps you will give your time, visit our stand, listen to a talk, or raise funds through your local beekeeping associations. We will be celebrating our supporters, so look out for comments on Facebook and Twitter next week.

Thank you very much for supporting us in 2016.  We are very grateful to you in all the different ways that you help, your time and effort is very much appreciated.  We are particularly grateful to the beekeeping associations around the country who go the extra mile to raise funds through their local events.