Published: 03 February 2012
by PETER GRUNER

FREIGHTLINERS Farm in Holloway has been shortlisted to receive a green grant of £10,000 for its planned bee club.

Now it’s up to Tribune readers to vote for the farm online to ensure it wins the award.

Freightliners, which was founded in 1973 to give Londoners the chance to learn about ­animals and the environment, is struggling to survive in the current downturn.

It has received more than £8,000 in donations since the Tribune wrote about its problems before Christmas.

Now an innovative plan has been put in place to develop the “Buzz Club”, giving local young people the chance to learn about bees and their role as pollinators, beekeeping and honey harvesting.

Children would be taught by trained volunteers who would show them how to make bee products.

If successful, the funding from The Green Insurance Company would help cover bee-keeper staffing, the construction of a bee pond with bee-friendly plants, the cost of child and teenage-size bee suits, an observation hive, and training for volunteers and staff.

A drastic decline in bee numbers over recent years spurred Freight­liners to take action.

The Buzz Club was selected from almost 600 funding applications submitted to the Green Grants website.

The judges selected 18 worthwhile projects around the UK to receive funding of up to £2,000 each and selected the top four applications for the £10,000 grant which will now be put to a public vote to decide the overall winner.

Liz McAllister, farm manager at Freightliners in Sheringham Road,  said: “We’re thrilled that our application to the Green Grants scheme has reached the final voting stage.

Now we’re calling on all our supporters to vote for us.”

But Freightliners will  be up against three other environmentally friendly schemes, including: the Best Before Project, which promotes a more efficient distribution of unwanted food, avoiding high levels of waste; the Wave Pond Wetland Project, a habitat restoration project in Livingston; and Close the Door, a Cambridge-based energy efficiency organisation.

If successful, work on the Buzz Club will begin in the spring.

• For more information, and to vote for
The Green Insurance ­Company’s winner, visit : www.greeninsurancegiving.co.uk/vote/