BEES

Here are our beautiful babies!

All jills (females) and very well handled, having had lots of positive interaction with the young people attending our alternative education provision in Plympton. Both parents come from a long line of great working ferrets. 🐾

PM us if you’d like to know more.

What a week at BEES 🐝

Last week was a busy, but brilliant week for our team , and we were delighted to attend our first SEND event, thanks to the fantastic team at SEND Help Plymouth !

It was wonderful to meet so many families, chat about what we do here at the farm, and share how our farm-based alternative education provision can support young people who may struggle in a traditional education setting.

Our chickens certainly enjoyed being the centre of attention and received lots of cuddles from some of our young visitors!

Our tortoises, on the other hand, decided they preferred a quieter day and spent most of their time hiding away!

We loved meeting everyone and hearing from families looking for a different approach to education, one that is practical, outdoors, animal-focused and built around the individual young person.

If you’re a parent or carer and would like to find out more about BEES UK, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you and talk about how our provision could work for your young person.

And if you spoke to us at the event and made an enquiry, thank you! We’ll be sending you more information as soon as we can.

Sometimes, learning works best when you step outside the classroom. 🐝

Please consider supporting Kula Culture CIO.

Although BEESUK and Kula Culture CIO are separate organisations, we work closely together to create opportunities for children, young people and the wider community. We’re pleased to support Kula Culture by sharing this simple way to help raise funds for its charitable work.

Whenever you shop online, thousands of retailers will donate a percentage of your purchase to Kula Culture CIO through Give as you Live, at no extra cost to you.

It’s completely free, takes just a couple of minutes to sign up, and every eligible purchase helps Kula Culture continue providing opportunities for people to connect with nature, learn new skills, improve wellbeing and care for the local environment.

Getting started is easy:

1. Join for free.
2. Shop with your favourite retailers.
3. Raise funds for Kula Culture every time you buy.

Whether you’re ordering groceries, booking a holiday, buying gifts or treating yourself, your shopping could help make a real difference.

You can sign up here:
https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/kulaculture

If you know friends, family or colleagues who shop online regularly, we’d really appreciate it if you could share this post and help spread the word.

Thank you for supporting Kula Culture and the positive impact it has within our local communities.

Turn your everyday online shopping into support for Kula Culture CIO at no extra cost to you!

Did you know that whenever you shop online, thousands of retailers will donate a percentage of your purchase to Kula Culture through Give as you Live Online?

It’s completely free, takes just a couple of minutes to sign up, and every purchase helps us continue creating opportunities for people to connect with nature, learn new skills, support wellbeing, and nurture our local environment.

1. Join for free
2. Shop with your favourite retailers
3. Raise funds for Kula Culture every time you buy

Whether you’re ordering groceries, booking a holiday, buying gifts, or treating yourself, your shopping could help make a real difference.

Please sign up today and help us grow our community impact:

https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/kulaculture

Every click, every purchase, every donation helps us continue “sowing seeds and watching people grow.”



Please share this post with friends and family – it’s one of the easiest ways to support Kula Culture without spending an extra penny!

Please help us support Kula Culture.

Although BEESUK and Kula Culture are separate organisations, we work together to create more opportunities for children, young people and the wider community. We’re pleased to support Kula Culture in its Tesco Stronger Starts campaign.

From today, if you’re shopping in Tesco, you can support Kula Culture completely free by placing your blue token into their voting box.

You can vote at:
• Plympton Express St Mary’s
• Plympton Express Westfield
• Ivybridge Express
• Lee Mill Extra

It only takes a few seconds, but every vote helps Kula Culture secure funding to expand the opportunities it provides for local children, young people and families.

If you know friends, family or colleagues who shop in any of these stores, we’d really appreciate it if you could share this post and help spread the word. Every vote can make a real difference.

Thank you for your support.

Tesco
Groundwork

TODAY'S THE DAY!

From today Tesco customers can support us by dropping the Tesco blue token they receive at checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store.

You can vote for Kula Culture in four stores around Plymouth. These are...
Plympton Express St Mary's
Plympton Express Westfield
Ivybridge Express
Lee Mill Extra

Your support will make a huge difference to what we can achieve so please use your vote whether you pop in daily for your lunch, weekly or monthly for your BIG shop, every little helps us grow.

Tesco
Groundwork

Our BEES Team are excited to be attending this event next Wednesday and look forward to meeting other service providers and sharing our work with families.

We’ll be bringing a couple of our small animals too so pop along and have a chat with our team to find out more.

I remember a turning point in my life where I finally stopped accepting the labels of being “different” or “difficult”.

The truth was simply that I learned differently. I experienced and processed the world differently.

It took me years to unpick some of the damaging words and limiting assumptions that can so easily stay with a child long after they leave the classroom.

What is genuinely encouraging now is that there is a far greater understanding than ever before that we are all different, and that people experience, process and navigate the world in very different ways. There is a growing recognition across education, health and wider society that some children and young people may need different approaches, environments and support in order to thrive.

In the workplace, we rightly recognise the importance of making reasonable adjustments to support employees to thrive. It is genuinely encouraging to see more of that same inclusive and relational thinking continuing to develop within education too.

Most schools and local authorities contact us because a child or young person is struggling in some way, but what has become increasingly heartening over the years is the genuine care, passion and determination shown by so many professionals who simply want to get the right support in place. More and more people are beginning to look beyond behaviour and ask an important question: “What might this child be communicating through their behaviour, and what support do they need?”

Eventually, I realised I had two choices. I could carry the hurt forward, or I could use those experiences to help build something better.

So that is what we did.

We built a provision informed by those experiences, but designed to deliver the exact opposite outcome. A place where children and young people are encouraged to believe in themselves rather than doubt themselves. A place where difference is understood, not treated as something that needs fixing. A place that helps adults look beyond presentation and begin understanding the person underneath it.

Like their mum and dad, both of our daughters are neurodivergent and are educated outside of mainstream schooling. We know first-hand that for many families, home education or flexible educational approaches can feel completely out of reach, even when they may be exactly what a child needs.

Part of what drives us is helping bridge that gap. Sometimes support may simply mean creating space for a young person to have a carefully supported break from school during the week. For others, it may involve a more structured bespoke intervention over several days. The key is that every young person is different, and meaningful support should reflect that.

One of the things families often tell us is that, for the first time, they feel genuinely understood. Perhaps that is because much of what shapes our provision comes not only from professional experience, but from lived experience too. We understand that behind every child is a whole family navigating challenges, worries, hopes and exhaustion of their own. Our aim has never simply been to support a child in isolation, but to help families feel heard, supported and less alone.

Although the business itself was incorporated back in 2013, in many ways we have spent years operating within limitations that restricted how far we could truly grow and evolve. Despite that, we have continued to see meaningful outcomes while supporting incredible children, young people and families along the way.

I genuinely believe in what we have built and the difference it can make. And over time, the outcomes have begun to speak for themselves.

Perhaps the greatest irony of all is that the child once labelled “difficult” has spent the last thirteen years helping build something designed for children and young people who have heard the very same thing.

Walking quietly together through a place today that felt full of possibility, it was hard not to reflect on just how far the journey has already come, and how much hope there is in what may lie ahead.

There is a moment approaching that feels like it could finally bring all of those years, lessons, setbacks, hopes and ambitions into one place.

And now, after years of persistence, lessons, growth and refusing to give up on the vision, it finally feels like we are surrounded by the right people, at exactly the right time, to build something truly extraordinary.

It feels like the beginning of a chapter we once struggled to imagine possible.

We cannot wait to share more.

Watch this space!

Nathan
BEESUK & Kula Culture

Competition Result Announcement

Did you guess it right?

The correct answer was 29 chicks.

We saw some brilliant guesses, and well done to everyone who got it spot on.

From all the correct entries, we selected a winner at random.

Congratulations to Helen Seaman, who correctly guessed 29.
Whitleigh Primary School has won 25% off an EGG-ED hatching project to use this year.

We will be in touch shortly to arrange everything.

We know it can be frustrating to miss out, so we are opening this up a little further.

For any other schools who would like to book an unforgettable experience, we are offering 10% off EGG-ED hatching projects for bookings confirmed before the end of this week.

If you know a school that would benefit from this:

Share this post and tag a Plymouth school so they do not miss out.

These hands-on experiences give young people the chance to witness life cycles up close, connect with nature, and engage in something genuinely memorable.

Thank you again to everyone who entered and supported what we are doing. Helping to keep traditional breeds going, one hatch at a time.

COMPETITION TIME!

Can you guess how many chicks are in the bucket?

A very special delivery went out today from BEESUK, and this one feels particularly special.

These are Bourbon Red turkey chicks, hatched here from our own two flocks of this brilliant rare breed. A proper heritage turkey, known for their calm nature and traditional characteristics, and something we are proud to be helping preserve.

Today, they arrived safely at Sign of the Owl Birds in Ugborough, in one rather lively bucket.

So, how many chicks do you think are in there?

Take a close look and drop your guess below.

Prize:
Win 25% off an EGG-ED hatching project for a Plymouth school of your choice.

That could be your child’s school, a school you work in, or one you would simply love to support.

To enter:
Comment your guess
Tell us which Plymouth school you would nominate

Feel free to tag them so they do not miss out.

- One guess per person
- Closest guess wins

In the event of a tie, we will draw at random.

The winner announced Bank Holiday Monday evening.

Helping to keep traditional breeds going, one hatch at a time.

Let’s see who has the sharpest eye.