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British RoyalsFeaturesPrince & Princess of Wales

Kate’s campaign to help nature hits UK shops this weekend

The Duchess of Cambridge has lent her support to a youth-based campaign that aims to help save the bee population in the UK, and young people can sign up to help at their local grocery store.

Backyard UK has launched a new campaign called Save the Bees Mission to encourage young people to do their part to help the bee population.

According to Backyard UK, young people will have a mission “to feed the bees where you live by planting wildflower seedballs. You can get involved where you live – seedballs can be planted in a garden, pot or window box.”

Young people first need to sign up at the Backyard UK website to become a Backyard Nature Guardian, then travel to their local Iceland or Food Warehouse store to pick up their package of seedballs. There are also instructions on how to make their own, if they can’t get to a store.

“Did you know bees are critical to the food we eat? They give life to produce like peas, tomatoes and strawberries,” Backyard UK’s website states.

“In fact, our supermarket shelves would look very different indeed in a world without bees. That’s why we need to take urgent action to help them!”

Backyard UK is offering up over 330,000 seedballs for free from Saturday in Iceland and Food Warehouse stores, which accounts for 15 million wildflower seeds and can supply 100 people per store.

Once young people plant their seedballs, they’re encouraged to track the growth on social media using the hashtag #BackyardNature.

If young people aren’t able to get to a store or to make their own homemade seedballs, Backyard UK includes tips on how to create “insect hotels” and tips on how to care for bees.

“Bees are an integral part of our ecosystem and provide a vital pollination service to UK crops,” said Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation trustee and Iceland managing director Richard Walker.

“These wonderful creatures are quickly disappearing and they are in desperate need of more places to live and eat.”

When BackyardUK launched back in the summer, Kate lent her support to the organisation, saying that, “Spending time in nature can play a pivotal role in helping children grow to become happy, healthy adults.

“I hope the Backyard Nature campaign inspires children, families and communities to get outside and engage with nature, wherever they live.”

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.