The 10th Bee and Pollination Festival!

By Alice Maltby

So much is happening in the exciting world of pollinators at the moment. Even wasps have employed a new public relations team to promote their cause! Their key message is sacrifice a bit of your picnic to save the planet! One of the best news stories this year was that even though Notre Dame suffered that terrible fire, the bees in the three hives on the roof were unharmed.

2019’s Bee and Pollination Festival takes place this weekend (Saturday 31st August and Sunday 1st September_will be the best ever. Now in its tenth year the event has become an important feature in the south west’s horticultural, beekeeping and wildlife calendar. (more…)

Let’s hear it for social media…

By Andy Winfield

Communication is easier than it has ever been…

Media has changed dramatically in recent years, we’re inundated with news of the world and images of the lives of people we don’t know promoting lifestyles that are unattainable for most of us. This can lead to a slump in self-worth but nevertheless an irresistible urge to keep looking at the unrelenting sea of information.  Social media is unavoidable today; some of you may be reading this through a social media app, and undoubtably a high percentage of you will have one or more accounts with a platform or two. It is said that on average users worldwide spend over two hours a day on social media; this will continue to be an upward trend and communicating this way has become the norm for many. Whatever anyone thinks about social media, it is here to stay. There has been much written about the negative effects, fear of missing out, peer pressure, trolling and spread of misinformation to name a few, and while these effects are undeniable, I think that social media can be a place of inspiration and discovery. (more…)