NHS facility in Northumberland partners with Meadow Well beekeeping community group to install honey bee hives

Pure Buzzin’, based in Meadow Well, North Tyneside, has partnered with NHS-owned company Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management (NHFM) to install five honey bee hives at the Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub in Seaton Delaval.

The beekeeping organisation promotes mental health, wellbeing, and disability inclusion through beekeeping, and funds its work by selling candles and honey.

Stephen Douglas, the founder of Pure Buzzin’, also works with schools to teach students about pollination and joinery skills. He can now run activities at the site’s new hives.

Stephen said: “I took up beekeeping as a hobby around five years ago and I got very obsessed with that, so I decided to leave my job as a family support worker to become a beekeeper.

“Because of my background of working in communities and with people, I wanted to be sure that what I did surrounding bees and apiculture would also have an impact on other people and I could bring people along on the journey.”

The idea for the partnership between Stephen’s organisation and NHFM came when someone who works at the Seaton Delaval facility visited Pure Buzzin’ at its Meadow Well site, and was inspired to suggest hives were installed at work.

The project helps fulfil three ‘pillars’ of NHFM’s ‘community promise’, namely education, wellbeing, and the environment.

Rosie Sexton, people and engagement lead at NHFM, said: “The work that Stephen does with the schools is helping to keep high school students in mainstream education.

“We have joiners in NHFM so it is fantastic from that point of view, and raises awareness of NHFM and the NHS as an employer. A lot of students do not think that things like this happen in hospitals.

“There is the wellbeing pillar, which is aiming to reduce health inequalities in the community. So, it is the wellbeing of the students that Stephen works with in creating the hives, but also with staff as well, because it is something really positive that they can get involved in.

“Then, finally, the environmental pillar, so we do what we can to promote environmental activities, and obviously honey bees are a fantastic way of helping the environment.”