Supporting Plan Bees UK: Helping Manchester’s Pollinators Through Social Champions
This month through our Social Champions Initiative, we are proud to support Plan Bees UK, a Manchester based project focused on bees, biodiversity, art, and conservation.
Over 70% of the plants that feed us are pollinated by bees. Bees are vital to the health of our planet and there would be detrimental impacts on the environment and agriculture without them. Plan Bees has designed a bee-inspired jewellery collection that supports bee conservation, with every purchase supporting their conservation efforts. These pieces go beyond art and wearability, celebrating the cultural importance of the bee as a symbol, and standing as a tribute to Manchester’s resilience, unity, and work ethic. Set within a major architectural structure at the heart of the city, their work connects environmental action with local identity in a way that feels tangible and accessible.
When researching for this month’s Social Champions Initiative, Plan Bees stood out not just because they make ‘jewellery with purpose’, but also because of how clearly their mission aligns with our own values: intentional craftsmanship, acknowledgement of heritage, and a belief in sustainability and long-term impact.
The Manchester Bee was born of industry, and the symbol of the worker bee adopted in 1842 reflects the hard work of the people who built it. With our Head Office located in Didsbury, South Manchester, our whole team felt a personal connection to this cause. Based in Manchester with the very own established jewellery workshop in Cheshire, Plan Bees UK is a project dedicated to the preservation and protection of ‘the unsung heroes of our ecosystem’.
At the heart of Social Champions is the desire to support causes where our contribution can genuinely make a difference. We chose Plan Bees UK because their work operates on a grassroots level. Their initiative is thoughtful, creative, and clearly rooted in community education. We hope that our £500 donation will directly support conservation efforts to build pollinator-friendly environments, biodiversity boosters, and assist in sustaining projects that rely on collective support.
At Lily Arkwright, Social Champions allows us to support causes that reflect who we are and what we value. Supporting Plan Bees felt like a natural extension of that, a way to give back locally, thoughtfully, and with intention. We’re proud to support their work not only to help spread awareness about how important bee conservation is, but also as an investment into the future of our planet.