We’re delighted to announce that BGEN has been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation to support our operational costs over the coming year.

This is an important contribution to BGEN as a small charity and specialist support network for professional plant and natural world educators. The funding will provide valuable support towards the general costs of running and developing the organisation, helping us maintain the capacity and infrastructure that underpin our work.

Supporting the work behind the scenes

There is a great deal of work that happens behind the scenes to keep a professional network like BGEN running.

From coordinating our programme of events and training, supporting members, managing our communications and membership systems, and sharing opportunities and resources, to developing new areas of work and strengthening connections across the sector, these activities all require time and organisational capacity.

The Garfield Weston Foundation’s support towards our operational costs will help provide that capacity during the grant period.

For BGEN, this means being able to continue investing time and energy into the things that matter to our community: connecting educators, sharing knowledge and practice, supporting professional development, and strengthening the role of plant and natural world education.

A valuable vote of confidence

We are particularly pleased that the Garfield Weston Foundation has recognised the value of BGEN’s work and the contribution made by our members across botanic gardens, arboreta, zoos, parks, outdoor learning organisations and other settings.

Our members bring together a wealth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm for engaging people with plants, biodiversity and the natural world. BGEN exists to help connect that community, create opportunities to learn from one another and support the people working in this specialist area of education.

This grant gives us valuable support as we continue to develop BGEN and strengthen the foundations of the network.

Thank you to our community

BGEN’s work is made possible by the combined support of our members, trustees, volunteers, speakers, partners and wider community.

Membership, events and training provide an important part of the foundation for our work, while funding such as this helps us meet the operational costs that allow the organisation to function and develop.

We are grateful to the Garfield Weston Foundation for this support and look forward to making the most of the opportunity it provides over the coming year.

We’ll continue to keep our members and wider community updated as BGEN develops its work.

Thank you for being part of the BGEN community.