If there’s one event in the association calendar that perfectly captures the spirit of our beekeeping community, it’s our annual BBQ. This year, we were delighted to welcome around 75 members and guests, making it another fantastic evening of friendship, laughter and shared enthusiasm for beekeeping. While everyone enjoyed the delicious food, homemade cakes and desserts, and the chance to catch up with friends, there’s a tremendous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen.
Long before the first burger sizzled on the barbecue, a dedicated team of volunteers were already hard at work. From shopping for supplies and setting up tables and gazebos, to lighting the BBQ, baking mouth-watering cakes and desserts, donating fantastic raffle prizes, selling tickets, running the raffle, wielding the auctioneer’s gavel, and making sure everything ran smoothly throughout the evening—it was a true team effort.
Like a well-organised honey bee colony, everyone had a role to play, and together they created something rather special. It’s a wonderful reminder that our association isn’t just about bees; it’s about friendship, generosity and people giving their time to support one another.
This year’s BBQ also marked the end of an era. A massive thank you goes to Bob and Diane, who, after more than 30 years of tirelessly organising and cooking the food for our annual BBQ, are stepping back from these duties. Their dedication, hard work and commitment over the decades have been truly remarkable, and generations of members have enjoyed the fruits of their efforts. We are incredibly grateful for everything they have done and hope they can now relax and enjoy future BBQs as guests rather than organisers.
We were delighted to welcome MP Andrew Mitchell and Councillor Nitish Raut, Mayor of the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, to our BBQ. We are truly grateful to them for taking the time to join us despite their busy schedules, for their kind and supportive speeches, and for helping make the event such a wonderful success. Their presence also highlighted the importance of bees within the political arena, showing that pollinators are increasingly recognised as an issue worthy of attention at every level of public life.
Our fundraising activities were, as always, very well supported. The raffle raised an impressive £222, which will be shared equally between Bees Abroad and Pancreatic Cancer UK. The auction also proved to be a great success, raising £150, with bidding continuing right to the very end thanks to a late telephone bid that added a memorable finish to the proceedings.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped in any way, whether you organised, cooked, baked, donated, cleared away, or simply came along to support the event. Every contribution, big or small, helped make the day such a success. It was also great to see the Park Rangers joining us and supporting the event.
All that was left was to relax, enjoy the food, buy those raffle tickets, bid enthusiastically in the auction… and perhaps sample just one more slice of cake (purely for quality control, of course!). Here’s to another fantastic association BBQ—we’re already looking forward to next year’s!
