Children at a Church of England primary school are leading the charge to save Britain's struggling bee population with a simple campaign aimed at encouraging more people to grow their own plants.
The 'Pollinator Promise' has been devised by children from St Alban's Church of England Primary School in Havant in response to warnings from conservationists that the bee population in the UK and across Europe is in serious decline.
It asks parents, businesses and nursing homes to set aside just one square metre of land to grow plants that will provide vital shelter and food for bees and other pollinating insects.
Children at St Alban's were inspired to widen their efforts to save Britain's bees after a modest school project to plant an insect-friendly flower bed at the entrance to their school proved to be a huge success.
That flower bed led to the children wanting to get more involved with biodiversity and they have since planted a wide range of flowers, pollinator-friendly herbs, fruit and vegetables in the school grounds.
The school curriculum was also modified to incorporate aspects of the ecology and conservation work being done by the children outside of the classroom.
The children were further inspired to save Britain's bees by taking part in the UK-wide biodiversity and education project, Polli:Nation, which helps schools make the necessary changes to their grounds to support pollinator species.
To promote the 'Pollinator Promise' more widely, the children developed their IT skills by creating a dedicated website including information and resources developed in partnership with biopharmaceutical company Pfizer, which has an office near the school.
Havant MP Alan Mak is among those to have made the 'Pollinator Promise' and has already created a dedicated a space for at Langstone Technology Park, where his constituency office is based.
To make a pollinator promise and pledge to support pollinators in your local green space you can contact St Alban's pupils directly at pollination1@stalbans.
