OBKA Helps Make A Difference Award Winner
The BBC Make a Difference Awards celebrate the daily stories that BBC regional radio stations hear of local heroes going above and beyond to make a real difference in their communities. The awards span eight categories, including Volunteer, Fundraiser, Carer and Great Neighbour, and were first set up as a virtual noticeboard at the start of the first Covid lockdown in March 2020.
On 18th September we received a ‘Contact Us’ form from a Joe Rajapaksha, saying:
Hi, I am a nine year old who is raising funds for Oxford Health Charity. I am planning to make sum beeswax wrap and sell those to raise money. Could you please let me know where I can get beeswax in Witney? If you can please call my mother on 0xxxxxxxxx. Many thanks, Joe.
Our Secretary, Richard Stansfield, replied that Oxfordshire Beekeepers Association would love to try to help and he would contact OBKA members in and around Witney to see who could help. Shortly afterwards Mark Gwilt and his fellow beekeepers at 1 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps Beekeeping Club said they could help Joe and contacted his Mum to arrange this.
A couple of weeks later Joe and his Mum had a tour of the colonies at 1 Regt RLC in Bicester. Once they had opened a colony to see the bees hard at work Mark and his colleagues gave some wax to Joe for his wraps. With help from his Mum Joe was able to make 20 wraps.
Joe sold his wraps to raise money to support Oxford Health Charity’s Green Spaces Appeal, the aim of which is to increase access to green spaces for anyone receiving care from, or working within the Trust. Joe tells us he sold his first wrap to the Oxford NHS Trust’s CEO, Dr. Nick Broughton.
Joe won the Environmental Award at the BBC Radio Oxford Make A Difference Awards on 30th September. Joe is already an active climate campaigner who is on a vital mission to save our planet. Through his You Tube channel, Facebook page and Instagram, he aims to help educate others and spread his message that now is the time for us all to make a change.
