Who we are
‘Urbee’ is a little urban bee with a vision to support the plight of bees and pollinators. Our ethical family business arose in 2019 from a love of wildlife and the natural world, providing home fragrance, gifts, homeware, children's items, accessories and plants for pollinators in a playful design (with simple shapes and some cute bees!), whilst placing sustainability, British-made and conservation at the forefront.
10% of all profit is donated to Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, which directly buys wildflower seed for B-lines projects across the UK.
We have lost 97% of UK wildflower meadows in the last 50 years, which has had a devastating effect on insect populations. Helping to put some of this habitat back, not only helps give pollinators food and shelter, but also acts as carbon storage, helps to improve the air we breathe and improves mental wellbeing. Part of our aim is to increase awareness of pollinators and to help people engage with conservation in their own outdoor spaces. We do this via social media, newsletters and local engagement. Last year, with help from Butterfly Conservation, Greenwich council and local families, we sowed wildflower seed strips around a woodland meadow, where we monitor pollinators regularly.
Our whole family loves and helps with the business. It helps to teach our children (and others) about nature, conservation and how to love the outdoors. From sowing seeds and growing plants, to bee walks and designing new products, our children get involved wherever they can.
My name is Cherisse Bown and this is my nature-loving family. My professional background is in design and print... I started out my career in litho printing, then as an artworker for some of London’s leading packaging design agencies.
We have put our heart and soul into designing a product that we think you and your children will love as much as we do.
The Project
‘Urbee & Friends’ is our children’s range. Made for kids who have a love of nature, the designs are bright and bold, and aim to help them engage with and learn about pollinators.
We have developed a ‘Bee Box’ for primary school-aged children, enabling them to learn, create and grow for bees.
The box contains:
- Bee ID cards - for 8 common bumblebees and 8 solitary bee species.
- Information cards to help children learn about the different types of bees.
- Activity cards with ‘Bee tasks’ so they can make things or grow seeds/plants
- Seedballs® - with native wildflowers that bees love
- Bee sketch book to draw and illustrate their findings.
- Colour-in bookmark.
- Set of colouring pencils.
- Fun activity sheet to test all their buzzy knowledge.
Our children have created their own ‘top tips’ to help others gain success in the tasks, which can be found throughout the activity cards. All information given has been family 'tried and tested'.
Bee Box and its entire contents are proudly made in Great Britain, using recycled paper and sustainably sourced materials and is endorsed by Buglife.
Everything in the box is recyclable, and digitally printed onto carbon offset papers and boards that are 100% recycled and printed with eco-friendly inks.
Bee Box aims to encourage children to step outside and look at bees, learn about their differences and to engage with their conservation by making things outside or growing plants.
"The bee box is a delightful gift to share with the children in your life as it is full of engaging information, puzzles and more to engage them with our precious pollinators. We need to save our bees but to do this we must first love them. The bee box is an ideal way to grow that love in future generations." Paul Hetherington, Buglife the Invertebrate Conservation Trust.
Children can use the Bee Box without owning a garden. Many plants can be grown in window boxes and bees can be observed in local parks, green spaces, and community gardens.
We need your help to raise £5,000 to launch the Bee box and promote it across our social media channels. We would love to reach as many families and schools as we can and help to teach children the importance of bees.
UK postage is included as part of each reward.
We regret we cannot post outside the UK due to the inclusion of wildflower seeds.
Why do bees need our help?
Many of our wild bee populations are struggling.
Due to an increase in farming, pesticide use, the loss of wildflower meadows, and the growth of towns and cities, our bees are struggling to find food and places to nest.
Two species of bumblebee became extinct during the last century, and more are declining. They need our help more than ever and by teaching our children to love and protect them, we can save them for future generations.
Why are bees important?
Bees are essential in the production of food through pollination. They are responsible for pollinating many of the crops that we eat, such as fruit plants and trees, vegetables, coffee and crops that we grow for multiple uses, like rapeseed - where the crop is grown to produce food, fuel, soap and lubricants.
It would cost farmers billions of pounds each year to pollinate these crops if we didn't have the help of bees. Food prices would rise, and we would risk losing some of the varieties of fruit and vegetables that we enjoy.
Bees also play a huge part in supporting other wildlife, by promoting growth of wildflowers and the animals and birds that find shelter and food within them.
What will we do with the money raised?
The money raised will be used to purchase stock for the box. Paper prices have risen sharply during the last few years, so to make our Bee box affordable, we need to buy a larger volume of packaging and the printed paper parts, which will lower the unit cost.
We also need to rent a small storage unit.
Funds will also be used for advertising, marketing and promotion of the box, via our current website and social media platforms. This will help to raise awareness of the product and help us on our mission to raise awareness for bees.
Should the funding be successful, and we launch our Bee box, we promise to donate 10% of profit raised from each sale thereafter to Buglifes pollinator projects.
In the future
Should the Bee box be a successful project, we would like to launch box sets for different pollinating insects like butterflies and beetles, to help further children's knowledge of these incredible and essential invertebrates.
Rewards:
We are offering a great range of buzzy rewards for our crowdfunder. Rewards range from an individual Bee box, a Bee box with an additional reward, to multiples boxes with discounts, which may suit parents/carers who homeschool and also for classroom settings.
Each Bee Box sent out will also receive a free A5 sheet of bee stickers.
There is also the option of just kindly donating to our cause if you would prefer not to receive a reward.
£25 Reward - Bee Box
Pledge £25 or more and you will receive a Bee Box. Once the target has been reached and stock for the box can be purchased, yours will be buzzing its way directly to you. UK postage included. We regret due to the inclusion of seeds, we cannot post outside the UK.
£32 Reward - Bee Box and A5 Bee Notebook Set
Pledge £32 or more and you will receive a Bee Box, plus one of our bee notebook sets - with a notebook, sketchbook and bee pencil. Once the target has been reached and stock for the box can be purchased, yours will be buzzing its way directly to you.
UK postage included. We regret due to the inclusion of seeds, we cannot post outside the UK.
£35 Reward - Bee Box + 1 year Buglife membership
Pledge £35 or more and you will receive a Bee Box, plus a one year Buglife membership. Once the target has been reached and stock for the box can be purchased, yours will be buzzing its way directly to you. UK postage included.
We regret due to the inclusion of seeds, we cannot post outside the UK.
£45 Reward - Bee Box for you + one for a friend
Pledge £45 or more and you will receive a Bee Box for you and one for a friend. Once the target has been reached and stock for the box can be purchased, your boxes will be buzzing their way directly to you. UK postage included. We regret due to the inclusion of seeds, we cannot post outside the UK.
£60 Reward - Three Bee Boxes
Pledge £60 or more and you will receive Three Bee Boxes. Once the target has been reached and stock for the box can be purchased, yours will be buzzing their way directly to you. UK postage included. We regret due to the inclusion of seeds, we cannot post outside the UK.
£85 Reward - Five Bee Boxes
Pledge £85 or more and you will receive 5 Bee Boxes for children to share in your classroom. Great for mini-beast topics.