Vision
“Connection, community and the environment”
To bring families together in a safe space; to deepen their connection with nature and each other; to improve wellbeing and the environment.
“Connection, community and the environment”
To bring families together in a safe space; to deepen their connection with nature and each other; to improve wellbeing and the environment.
Operational Plan
Phase One
In our first year of operating, our main aim will be to focus on developing and nurturing our growing community. To achieve this, we will begin running workshops, sessions and events from January 2020 from a site near Bury St Edmunds.
The Hive will absorb the existing organisations of St Edmundsbaby, West Suffolk Home Education Hub and Nature Explorers, and take on the running of the events, websites, magazines and support groups currently being produced by these organisations. This will increase the impact that each of these can make within the community and improve their effectiveness.
We will host and run two Green Fairs at The Apex and The Arc in the centre of Bury St Edmunds, which will allow us to network with a broad range of the community, as well as reaching out to potential partners who share our values and support our vision. As part of the Green Fairs, we will collaborate with other organisations to promote environmentally friendly actions within the town and facilitate talks and assemblies to invite members of public to get involved. As well as the Green Fairs, we will host and run two Pregnancy and Parenting Fayres, and two Home Education Fayres at the Apex. The Hive will also run the St Edmundsbaby Attachment Parenting support groups held at The Apex, which involves other local organisations including the Suffolk Mobile Sling Library, Suffolk Doulas, The Positive Birth Movement and West Suffolk Maternity Voices Partnership.
On behalf of St Edmundsbaby and West Suffolk Home Ed Hub, we will also produce and distribute magazines for families living in West Suffolk – The St Edmundsbaby Magazine and The West Suffolk Home Ed Magazine. We will also manage the websites and social media platforms, which include the online editions of the magazines, a directory of family-friendly businesses and information and support for local families:
www.stedmundsbaby.org.uk
www.westsuffolkhomeed.org.uk
From our site outside the town centre, we will develop and nurture an outdoor community hub. Through co-operation and community working we will grow food, re-generate and improve the biodiversity of the site, provide a space for the community to come together to connect with nature, and facilitate a variety of educational and wellbeing workshops and events. We will run four seasonal family days from an outdoor location using Forest School principles to encourage a deeper connection with nature, environmental education and building strong relationships among the community.
The workshops will focus on education, heritage skills and wellbeing. Skills workshops will utilise natural materials and local craftspeople, giving a platform to local artisanal workers to pass on their skills and ensure these traditions are preserved. As well as traditional skills we will also host educational sessions such as first aid, permaculture and horticulture and storytelling sessions. Wellbeing workshops will focus on connection with community and nature, and will include mindfulness, yoga, art therapy and music and singing. Family sessions as well as adult sessions will be available.
The site already contains three polytunnels, one of which would be used as our community area, providing shelter, seating, space for making refreshments, and an area for learning with books and educational resources available for use. We intend to create a composting toilet on the site, and there is already access to running water.
The other two polytunnels will be used for growing fruit, vegetables and saplings. We will use volunteers to help us manage this space, and invite groups to come and learn about community gardening from the home educating community, local schools, scouts and guides groups etc. The meadow area will be mostly left to rewild with locally sourced, pollinator-friendly species of wildflowers, as well as an area to grow sunflowers and pumpkins for the community to come and pick seasonally. We intend on planting a hedge along the north side of the site to act as a natural boundary between us and the neighbouring arable farm, and as a habitat for birds, insects and mammals such as dormice and shrews. The east and west boundaries will be fenced using natural materials sourced locally, and we will invite members of the community to join a working party to create fencing using hazel and willow.
We will use this first phase to gather data, test our ideas and grow our community. We hope to be able to locate a permanent site during this phase, but our activities will not be dependent on finding one to operate at this stage. By remaining mobile, we can try working with different areas of the community and collaborate with a variety of other organisations. This will give us clear results to assess our social impact and to determine the feasibility of our projects when applying for funding in the future. Depending on the length of lease agreement we can secure, we will create a five and ten-year sustainability plan, by inviting in experts to help us with an eco-survey of the trees, plants and wildlife on the site. If we are given permission, we may seek funding to create a cob or timber structure to use as a classroom.
Phase Two
After operating for a year, we hope to have gathered plenty of experience and feedback to learn from. We will have hosted several events and grown our membership. We will use this experience to approach potential funding sources to allow us to begin the building phase of our vision. If we are successful in raising funds and securing a suitable site, we will invite the local community to participate in this phase of our operations. Our first priority will be to manage the land and design a five-year and ten-year sustainability plan for using the site. We will reach out to conservation and ecology experts for their advice, as well as making use of the expertise of our own committee, including permaculture and landscape design specialists. Depending on the structure of the site, type of trees, access to water, soil type etc, we may create a pond or lake, and we may plant more trees.
As well as caring for the land, we would hope to create a building to act as the hub for the site. This would probably be built using natural materials such as cob or timber and would aim to be low-impact and as self-sufficient as possible. This building would serve as the community centre and the heart of the project. We would use this building to host our workshops and events, and to provide shelter for our pop-up café until a more permanent version is ready. Once we have allocated space for growing fruit and vegetables, we will create our kitchen garden, which will eventually supply the café with produce.
Phase Three
The final phase of our project would culminate in the realisation of our vision. Creating and running an outdoor eco-friendly, family-friendly community centre which would have been built by members of the local community. We will have a fully operational café and shop selling locally produced and sustainable produce and promoting environmental education. We will be running regular workshops and events from the site, as well as hiring out the space to other organisations and groups.
We will be supporting local businesses and individuals by providing a space for them to share their skills, sell their work and products, and offering a place to work. The site will be a haven for members of the local community as well as the local wildlife. By working with a variety of organisations and local authorities, we can make a positive impact on the environment. Our project will bring together the local community, improve wellbeing, provide educational opportunities for children and adults, offer a safe space for families and promote eco-friendly and sustainable living to protect our environment.
Phase One
In our first year of operating, our main aim will be to focus on developing and nurturing our growing community. To achieve this, we will begin running workshops, sessions and events from January 2020 from a site near Bury St Edmunds.
The Hive will absorb the existing organisations of St Edmundsbaby, West Suffolk Home Education Hub and Nature Explorers, and take on the running of the events, websites, magazines and support groups currently being produced by these organisations. This will increase the impact that each of these can make within the community and improve their effectiveness.
We will host and run two Green Fairs at The Apex and The Arc in the centre of Bury St Edmunds, which will allow us to network with a broad range of the community, as well as reaching out to potential partners who share our values and support our vision. As part of the Green Fairs, we will collaborate with other organisations to promote environmentally friendly actions within the town and facilitate talks and assemblies to invite members of public to get involved. As well as the Green Fairs, we will host and run two Pregnancy and Parenting Fayres, and two Home Education Fayres at the Apex. The Hive will also run the St Edmundsbaby Attachment Parenting support groups held at The Apex, which involves other local organisations including the Suffolk Mobile Sling Library, Suffolk Doulas, The Positive Birth Movement and West Suffolk Maternity Voices Partnership.
On behalf of St Edmundsbaby and West Suffolk Home Ed Hub, we will also produce and distribute magazines for families living in West Suffolk – The St Edmundsbaby Magazine and The West Suffolk Home Ed Magazine. We will also manage the websites and social media platforms, which include the online editions of the magazines, a directory of family-friendly businesses and information and support for local families:
www.stedmundsbaby.org.uk
www.westsuffolkhomeed.org.uk
From our site outside the town centre, we will develop and nurture an outdoor community hub. Through co-operation and community working we will grow food, re-generate and improve the biodiversity of the site, provide a space for the community to come together to connect with nature, and facilitate a variety of educational and wellbeing workshops and events. We will run four seasonal family days from an outdoor location using Forest School principles to encourage a deeper connection with nature, environmental education and building strong relationships among the community.
The workshops will focus on education, heritage skills and wellbeing. Skills workshops will utilise natural materials and local craftspeople, giving a platform to local artisanal workers to pass on their skills and ensure these traditions are preserved. As well as traditional skills we will also host educational sessions such as first aid, permaculture and horticulture and storytelling sessions. Wellbeing workshops will focus on connection with community and nature, and will include mindfulness, yoga, art therapy and music and singing. Family sessions as well as adult sessions will be available.
The site already contains three polytunnels, one of which would be used as our community area, providing shelter, seating, space for making refreshments, and an area for learning with books and educational resources available for use. We intend to create a composting toilet on the site, and there is already access to running water.
The other two polytunnels will be used for growing fruit, vegetables and saplings. We will use volunteers to help us manage this space, and invite groups to come and learn about community gardening from the home educating community, local schools, scouts and guides groups etc. The meadow area will be mostly left to rewild with locally sourced, pollinator-friendly species of wildflowers, as well as an area to grow sunflowers and pumpkins for the community to come and pick seasonally. We intend on planting a hedge along the north side of the site to act as a natural boundary between us and the neighbouring arable farm, and as a habitat for birds, insects and mammals such as dormice and shrews. The east and west boundaries will be fenced using natural materials sourced locally, and we will invite members of the community to join a working party to create fencing using hazel and willow.
We will use this first phase to gather data, test our ideas and grow our community. We hope to be able to locate a permanent site during this phase, but our activities will not be dependent on finding one to operate at this stage. By remaining mobile, we can try working with different areas of the community and collaborate with a variety of other organisations. This will give us clear results to assess our social impact and to determine the feasibility of our projects when applying for funding in the future. Depending on the length of lease agreement we can secure, we will create a five and ten-year sustainability plan, by inviting in experts to help us with an eco-survey of the trees, plants and wildlife on the site. If we are given permission, we may seek funding to create a cob or timber structure to use as a classroom.
Phase Two
After operating for a year, we hope to have gathered plenty of experience and feedback to learn from. We will have hosted several events and grown our membership. We will use this experience to approach potential funding sources to allow us to begin the building phase of our vision. If we are successful in raising funds and securing a suitable site, we will invite the local community to participate in this phase of our operations. Our first priority will be to manage the land and design a five-year and ten-year sustainability plan for using the site. We will reach out to conservation and ecology experts for their advice, as well as making use of the expertise of our own committee, including permaculture and landscape design specialists. Depending on the structure of the site, type of trees, access to water, soil type etc, we may create a pond or lake, and we may plant more trees.
As well as caring for the land, we would hope to create a building to act as the hub for the site. This would probably be built using natural materials such as cob or timber and would aim to be low-impact and as self-sufficient as possible. This building would serve as the community centre and the heart of the project. We would use this building to host our workshops and events, and to provide shelter for our pop-up café until a more permanent version is ready. Once we have allocated space for growing fruit and vegetables, we will create our kitchen garden, which will eventually supply the café with produce.
Phase Three
The final phase of our project would culminate in the realisation of our vision. Creating and running an outdoor eco-friendly, family-friendly community centre which would have been built by members of the local community. We will have a fully operational café and shop selling locally produced and sustainable produce and promoting environmental education. We will be running regular workshops and events from the site, as well as hiring out the space to other organisations and groups.
We will be supporting local businesses and individuals by providing a space for them to share their skills, sell their work and products, and offering a place to work. The site will be a haven for members of the local community as well as the local wildlife. By working with a variety of organisations and local authorities, we can make a positive impact on the environment. Our project will bring together the local community, improve wellbeing, provide educational opportunities for children and adults, offer a safe space for families and promote eco-friendly and sustainable living to protect our environment.
artistic impression by Steph