Kickstart diaries – My time with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

31 May 2022

Over the past year, Tilly Hopkins has worked with the Trust through the Government Kickstart Scheme. Tilly has had the opportunity to gain experience working in the environmental sector and learn from passionate and skilled staff. Read Tilly’s conservation journey from creating social media content to bumblebee identification in the field.

Buzzing to begin 

After losing my first role due to the pandemic in 2020, I was feeling quite lost about the next steps in my conservation career. Then the new government Kickstart Scheme came along and I was so excited to see the Bumblebee Conservation Trust was involved. After a successful interview with Trust CEO Gill Perkins and staff members Andy Benson (Senior Education Officer) and Lisa Scott (Digital and Operations Officer), I started as a Bumblebee Conservation Assistant in the Public Engagement team on the 6 May 2021 (my birthday!), with Barnaby Smith (Public Engagement Manager) as my bee-rilliant Line Manager. 

I had such a warm welcome to the organisation, alongside my fellow Kickstarter’s Sinead, Kamal and Sam. The first few weeks can be a daunting time in any role, especially after being on furlough and job searching for months beforehand, but everyone was so friendly and helpful. I remember receiving a wonderful welcome pack from Gill with a hand-written note, a pack of bee-friendly wildflower seeds which I swiftly planted (they looked stunning that summer!), a White-tailed bumblebee pin badge which has lived on my rucksack ever since, and of course plenty of Trust reading material. 

From desk to field 

In the first half of my placement, I was home based working for the Public Engagement team. It was a really enjoyable time as I settled into my role. I got to watch lots of bumblebee and wildflower identification videos, read lots of bumblebee books, familiarised myself with the Trusts social media style and website content, learnt about the Trust in general including their values, and built working relationships within the team with Helen King (Senior Communications Officer) and Chloe Headdon (Bee the Change Officer) who were incredibly supportive. One of the highlights during this time was getting the chance to be involved in the Trusts latest online campaign, ‘Bee the Change’. 

I was so excited to contribute to this brilliant project led by Chloe. The purpose being to inspire people from all backgrounds to help bumblebees thrive in their communities through simple actions that anyone can take. Whether you have a large garden or a small window box, being a part of this project opened my eyes to how all of us can help make a positive difference for these very important pollinators. I was given the opportunity to create a blog for the microsite, draft up multiple social media posts, and help to create free downloadable resources such as an autumn/winter garden maintenance guide and a children’s seed balls activity sheet.  

For the remaining months, I was lucky enough to work in the Conservation team as part of the ‘Short-haired bumblebee reintroduction project’ based in Kent, led by Dr Nikki Gammans (Project manager) and supported by her trainee Clare Alley. It was an amazing opportunity to experience practical conservation work in-person and meet the dedicated group of volunteers for this project, some of which have been volunteering for the Trust for over 10 years. It was also great to meet fellow staff members face to face, and to make lovely new friendships with both Nikki and Clare. 

I experienced so much variety during these months, from attending a Trust life members event, running merchandise stalls at talks, selling raffle tickets at the annual fundraising quiz, completing risk assessments for each site, arranging volunteer get-togethers, taking photos/videos for social media, attending bumblebee blitzes, carrying out BeeWalks, designing a series of seasonal churchyard signs, to habitat work parties (I’ve lost count of how many primroses and cowslips I’ve planted, but enjoyed every one!). I love driving around my local towns and villages and being able to point out to family and friends where I’ve sowed wildflower seeds, or planted seasonal forage for bumblebees. It’s even more of a thrill when you actually see a bumblebee enjoying your efforts! 

Fond farewell 

Like all good things my placement is now coming to an end, but it has been the most fantastic experience. I was even able to fit in attending the full team meeting held in Cheadle before leaving, which was the icing on top! I feel so lucky to have met such inspiring and motivational staff members and volunteers. Everyone is very passionate about helping bumblebee populations to flourish, and it’s not hard to understand why.  

Before I started with the Trust I was interested in the natural world, but bumblebees were a new subject to me and something I was keen to learn more about – and what a learning journey it’s been! Once you start to know a little about these charismatic insects, you can’t help but become hooked. They live truly fascinating lives and I encourage everyone to take a look on the Trusts website for a better idea of their lifecycle, and the invaluable ecosystem services they provide for free. 

It’s been a memorable adventure. Thank you so much Bumblebee Conservation Trust!