In 2024, we launched our Pollination Education Station (PES) Trail as a way of providing habitat and food for pollinators and education for the surrounding community.

The creation and installation of PES is a community effort involving several local groups. Pollination Education Stations have been funded by businesses, grants, churches, parish councils, schools and the Rotary. Located outside businesses, parks, church and school grounds this trail is continuing to grow.

Each station combines planting, shelter and water to support pollinators such as bees, butterflies, beetles and moths – plus an A2 educational sign sharing action and signposting to the solutions page on our website. School or community installation events enable us to share knowledge, often through school assemblies and lessons.

PES installations act as living classrooms where learning and restoration go hand in hand. They help pupils see what works, what grows and what attracts insects. More importantly, they build confidence and curiosity, empowering young people to talk about biodiversity and act on it. The learning does not stop at school gates. Children take ideas home, helping to rewild gardens and influence family habits.

PES are not only installed in schools, we have several in other areas such as business parks, in church grounds, recreation grounds. They are installed with staff from businesses, young people in youth hubs, church congregation, with house builders we have installed them on new developments with homeowners and people from the local community. On the day, the project brings people together outside and gives a them an opportunity to be part of the positive impact. An efficient way to educate by doing.

We now have 45 PES installed across East and West Sussex. Projects like the PES trail complement wider landscape-scale Re Naturing Sussex efforts such as Weald to Waves, the South Downs National Park, Sussex Bay, Sussex Wildlife Trust and more local to our HQ Knepp Estate, Horsham Green Spaces Wildways and Wilder Horsham District, showing how community-level engagement supports nature recovery across the county.

We are very grateful to Greenwood Plants in Yapton who generously donate plants for the PES every time. We also collaborate with Men’s Shed Horsham and Lily’s Cottage Upcycling who build the wooden structure of the PES and we love involving local youth group who also build the PES.

We are proud our Pollination Education Station initiative has been recognised this year by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by winning the Bees Needs Champion Award – Full story here.