Pollinator-friendly planters dubbed ‘Bee Cafés’ have been installed at Beccles Station in Suffolk to provide a boost to local wildlife.
The planters have been installed by the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership (CRP) and the station adoption volunteers at Beccles, following a grant from Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Improvement Fund.
The four planters each have three tiers – the bottom tier is planted with flowers to support bees, and the middle tier is planted with flowers to support butterflies. They are also self-watering to ensure that the plants can thrive even during the hotter summer months.
Rail stations in East Anglia are increasingly becoming havens for local wildlife thanks to the efforts of over 330 volunteers who have transformed over 10,000 square metres of land into thriving wildlife gardens.
Thalia Woodgate, East Suffolk Lines CRP officer, said: “We were delighted to receive funding for four bee cafés. It means that the platforms at Beccles, rather than being concrete ‘dead spots’ for wildlife, can now offer pollinators food, shelter and a place to rest as they navigate from habitat to habitat. Providing such bases can help to make wildlife populations more resilient and, therefore, we hope will give them a much-needed boost.
“I would like to thank the station adopter volunteers at Beccles for their help and hard work in bringing this project to fruition – we were all delighted to see a bee land the moment our planting was finished.”
Scott Dolling, Greater Anglia’s partnerships manager, said: “We were pleased to support this initiative which highlights the great work being done to support pollinators and other wildlife thanks to the amazing work of the CRPs and the station adopter volunteers across our network.
“We are always looking to enhance the role of the railway in support of the communities it serves, and our new Customer and Community Improvement Fund is a way of supporting more locally focused enhancements in line with community needs.”
Find out more about Greater Anglia’s work in the community here.
Keep up to date with future news, projects and events from East Suffolk Lines CRP via their website.
