Buckinghamshire hotel welcomes 20,000 buzzing guests in support of community charity.
An award-winning Buckinghamshire hotel has become a hive of activity after 20,000 buzzing guests checked in as part of a community initiative to encourage Milton Keynes residents to make the city ‘bee-friendly’.
Horwood House Hotel, an award-winning, 4-star country house hotel and conference venue in Little Horwood, near Milton Keynes, recently set up a hive for the bees within its grounds, having been supplied by the Urban Bee-lievers, a social enterprise focussing on encouraging, educating, and inspiring residents on the benefits of the threatened fuzzy insects.
The partnership, which has seen the hotel commit £7,500 over three years to install and maintain the beehive colony, ensuring there are thousands of bees to pollinate the flowers and crops within its grounds, as well as producing an excess of honey, will also directly support the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation.
The local charity supports young people currently not in education, training or employment, helping them to gain essential work experience and qualifications through social enterprises like Urban Bee-lievers.
As part of the partnership, Horwood House recently welcomed young adults from the foundation into its kitchen to work with its chefs in baking cookies using their hive’s fresh honey. The visit provided an insight into a commercial kitchen with hands-on experience – offering valuable skills to the young adults as they pursue future workplace opportunities.
Following the recent visit, Sarah Mist, Urban Bee-lievers’ Social Enterprise Manager, said: “I want to give a massive thank you for the amazing welcome the team at Horwood House gave our staff and young people this week. They were all so excited about the experience and were inspired and amazed by the hotel and the staff’s generosity with time, resources and lunch. We are so grateful for the partnership to place the beehive on site, but also to Horwood House Hotel’s desire to support young people.”
Caroline Morrone, General Manager at Horwood House Hotel, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome our new buzzing guests to Horwood House as part of this inspiring initiative with Urban Bee-lievers and the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation. This partnership is a prime example of how hospitality can play a positive role in nurturing both nature and our local community. Supporting young people through meaningful work experience while enhancing our environment aligns perfectly with our values. We look forward to growing this relationship – and our honey reserves – in the years to come!”
The partnership will see several other activities and visits at the hotel over the coming months, including educational talks and honey tasting and beeswax candle-making workshops.
For more information on Horwood House Hotel, please visit https://www.horwoodhouse.co.uk/.
For more information on Urban Bee-lievers, visit https://mkchristianfoundation.co.uk/urban-beelievers/. And for more information on the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation, visit https://mkchristianfoundation.co.uk/.
