Last Friday night EJF paid a visit to the buzzing students union of Royal Holloway University of London (SURHUL) to support their ‘Escape! Save the Bees’ club night with Climate Revolution.

Hundreds of students got involved by painting their faces with the Climate Revolution face of war, posing in EJF's giant postcard photo booth, buying EJF's Save the Bees t-shirts and dancing the night away with Friends of the Earth (FoE) giant bees.

The Orbital Magazine hosted the event with Climate Revolution to create a prime spot for raising valuable awareness of the serious threats faced by bees today. EJF took along their Save the Bees t-shirts (available here) created by pop art label The Rodnik Band and eco brand Rapanui to raise funds and awareness for EJFs campaign, focusing on reducing the reliance on pesticides in the UK, which are having a devastating impact on bee populations.

In March this year, we welcomed a two-year ban on neonicotinoid pesticides after ‘The March of the Beekeepers’ demonstration held outside Parliament, where 400 members of the public called for the ban to be put in place. Now, EJF is working to ensure the ban is properly implemented and monitored and we are encouraging the government to adopt a Pollinator Action Plan to protect bees and other pollinators.

As well as raising a buzz about bees, the evening was a great chance to try out our giant postcard photo booth raising awareness of EJF’s ‘No Place like Home’ campaign for the protection of climate refugees. EJF recently launched the ‘Postcards from the Frontlines’ project to encourage the public to think about the home they would hate to be forced from. Postcards are sent through the Bypost App with a picture of your home and a unique message about what it means to you, which is transformed into a physical postcard and sent to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.

The students who posed with our giant postcard at the event join Vivienne Westwood and the Climate Revolution team as well as an increasing number of supporters and partners for the project. We hope to reach 100,000 postcards to make a big impact in calling for a UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights and demonstrate the scale and urgency of the issue.

The night’s buzz also saw Lush Campaigns provide prizes for student’s bee costumes and painted faces, and DJ Prince Persona and magician Leigh Edgecombe entertaining the crowd. Friends of the Earth members encouraged over 100 new sign ups to their ‘Bee-Cause’ campaign and were kept busy posing with students in their giant bee costumes.

All in all, it was a great night raising awareness of these important issues and joining together a number of like-minded organisations to combat climate change and declining bee populations. Thank you Climate Revolution for inviting us along!