Bee1 Delivers Free Mental Health Sessions to NHS Heroes  

It goes without saying that we find ourselves in hugely strange and uncertain times. With both our professional and social lives in the balance, the pandemic has impacted us all. However, Coronavirus has brought with it yet another deadly pandemic; a mental health pandemic.

With record reports of suicide, mental health issues and anxiety since the virus came to the UK, we at Bee1 are keen to promote the wellbeing benefits to what we do; beekeeping!

Although a huge focus has been placed on reaching out to those in lockdown and furloughed at home, little has been done to support the wellbeing of our heroes on the frontline. This is why at Bee1, we were thrilled to provide wellbeing sessions to NHS nurses in Swansea, providing recommendations and activities to enhance their wellbeing during this challenging period.

The Senior Matron of Corporate Nursing at Swansea Bay University Health Board, comments:

“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, says:

“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”.

About Bee1

Bee1 is a business created to address the decline in the bee population in the UK, 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 well being.

“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. Being at the top of the food chain, we need to help those further down to create a better environment for all” says 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.