Bumblebees are pollinating insects that play a vital role in agriculture, but populations have crashed in the UK over the last 80 years due to habitat loss, climate change and pesticides.  

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s Pollinating the Peak project, based in Derbyshire, is working hard to revive their numbers thanks to £967,200 National Lottery funding. 

They are raising awareness of the links between the countryside, food and bumblebees by working with farmers and landowners. Citizen science surveys, pollinator-friendly flower planting, school visits and their ‘What’s that bumblebee?’ app are inspiring people to look after and look out for bumblebees.  

Caring for nature, and each other

Caring for nature is also helping improve the mental health of the project’s volunteers and staff.

Everyone at the project was so supportive that I soon found myself getting stuck in and forgetting my nerves on the way.

Reanne, a project volunteer

Reanne, a project volunteer, told us: “It’s been amazing to share my passion for bumblebees with the public. Being a shy person by nature, I was always worried about how well I could contribute to causes I believed in.

"However, everyone at the project was so supportive that I soon found myself getting stuck in and forgetting my nerves on the way.”  

The project was shortlisted for a National Lottery Award in 2021.