Bee1, a Welsh beekeeping firm, is delivering wellbeing sessions to NHS workers in Wales, providing recommendations and bee-related activities to enhance the mental health of medical professionals during the pandemic.
The Senior Matron of Corporate Nursing at Swansea Bay University Health Board, commented:
“Following the initial Covid 19 outbreak, the impact on staff mental health has been a major concern to us all at NHS trusts. With that in mind, we ran a series of one-day wellness sessions at Liberty stadium for our staff throughout. Bee1 provided their services free of charge every week and spoke passionately about mental health, the fact that beekeeping is a recommended activity for those suffering with PTSD etc. It also has many other benefits e.g. getting outdoors, a sense of purpose, seeing nature locally etc. The feedback has been hugely positive, however we are aware that no such facility exists locally for staff and their families to attend.”
“We would obviously be delighted to see such a facility available to our staff and would be happy to profile and support any such project.”
Mark Douglas, Founder of Bee1, said:
“It was a true honour to deliver these wellbeing sessions to NHS workers and we have been thrilled with the response and feedback we have received. It is our aim to further promote the wellbeing benefits to beekeeping which are largely untapped.”
About Bee1
Bee1 is a business created to address the decline in the bee population, having developed a number of courses and initiatives that promote the essential role bees play in our community.
Bee1 has a desire to help companies with their corporate social responsibilities, offering support packages that involve the local environment, school children, health and wellbeing.
“We use the honeybee as a conduit to link all three together. Bees have recently become an endangered species. We need to act responsibly as human beings and being top of the food chain, by helping those further down to create a better environment for all,” said Mark Douglas.
A contribution of the funds raised by Bee1 are invested to support local charities, applied research projects at universities and to develop education programmes for school children to ensure that they are all properly trained and best able to keep honeybees alive and well.
