Vistry Team continues support for bumblebee charity

An environmentally friendly housebuilder has signed up for a second year as a paid-up supporter of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Vistry Group’s Mercia region, which is based in Stafford, has made a commitment to continue its role as a business member of the national charity after linking up with the organisation in 2022.

The housebuilder, which is building new homes under its Bovis Homes and Linden Homes brands across Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire, launched a scheme to help create havens for bees in the gardens of new-build homes in the summer of 2022.

Under the Building Homes for Bees project, Vistry Mercia provides all new homebuyers with a bumblebee guide and packet of wildflower seeds as part of their welcome pack. This enables homeowners to make their gardens more bee-friendly by growing more wildflowers.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, which was founded in 2006, is dedicated to trying to increase the number and distribution of bumblebees throughout the country. The charity’s main objectives are to improve the understanding of bumblebee ecology and conservation, increase the quality and quantity of suitable habitats and to inspire more people to take action to support the insects.

Jo Cole, Senior Partnerships Officer at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said: “It is great to have Vistry Mercia support the Trust as a business member and provide new residents with simple means to make their new gardens enticing for bumblebees. 

“Bumblebees are familiar and much-loved insects that pollinate our crops and wildflowers. We’re looking forward to seeing how Vistry Mercia can incorporate bumblebee-friendly planting, landscaping and grounds maintenance into their sites.”

As part of the housebuilder’s working association with the charity, Jo gave a talk at Bovis Homes’ Bollin Grange location in Macclesfield in September, about how growing flowers in gardens can help bees survive and thrive. Jo also discussed the importance of providing sheltered habitats and reducing or stopping harmful pesticide and insecticide use. 

Freya Halsall, marketing manager at Vistry Mercia, said: “We have signed up for the second successive year for business membership with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust because we realise the importance of supporting its vital work.

“Our Building Homes for Bees initiative is further commitment to our desire to work with the Trust to take measures that help the bumblebee. The fact that we give information about bumblebees and wildflower seeds to our customers so that they can grow flowers to attract them has been very popular, especially with families, and helps create a better habitat for bees at our developments.  

“We are an environmentally conscious housebuilder and know that we all have role to play in helping to protect the planet and its wildlife. Teaming up with charities such as the Bumblebee Conservation Trust is part of our commitment to that goal. At Vistry, we ensure that our developments include green spaces and many include a range of wildlife-friendly features such as bee and bug hotels, swift and bat bricks and hedgehog highways, which are gaps in fences to let the animals move freely between gardens.”  

For information about the work of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, visit bumblebeeconservation.org.

For details about the new homes being built by Vistry Mercia, visit lindenhomes.co.uk or bovishomes.co.uk.