Youth organisation is buzzing after receiving over £5,000 to launch a bee keeping project

The 6 Foot Lab initiative, run by Eva and Pawel Jakubowski, started as a project to provide young people with a safe place to go but has taken off.

The group already enjoy woodworking and electromechanical projects, but the £5,600 National Lottery Community Fund grant they have received will help them create bee hives at the Greenock Cut.

Eventually, the group will establish the Young Beekeeper Association Greenock, but with training currently on hold due to COVID-19 the group are meanwhile learning how to take care of the hives with virtual training sessions online.

Eva, who lives in Greenock, said: "This project is hopefully a great way for us to together learn more about bees and create an opportunity for the young people involved to get involved with our group.

"My son, Franek, was involved in a bee keeping project when he attended Notre Dame High School, so we are really excited to start the project."

While unable to get together just now, the teenagers have been learning the skills required through online resources and videos.

Eva said: "We delivered a film to members about bee keeping as well as some other activities that they can do while everything has stopped.

"We are really looking forward to getting back together and hopefully we will be able to find somewhere suitable for us to meet going forward."

Eva hopes that bee keeping is something that will grow in the area.

She added: "I really hope that by us showing that there is an interest in bee keeping locally, more people will get involved and the council will perhaps be able to offer their support."

For more information about 6Foot Lab's Young Beekeeper Association, or to join, visit their group's Facebook page.