Tracy, at our pop-up in Oct 2017.
This is Tracy.
Tracy and her husband Geoff were part of Pneuma Church (formerly known as Ashford Vineyard) for many years, and when we launched The Beehive as our pop-up in October 2017, Tracy was one of our very first volunteers! She has been a big part of our volunteering team on and off ever since.
In November last year (2021), Tracy and Geoff made the move to Uganda- a plan that had been brewing in their hearts for many years. The village that they moved to is one chronically steeped in poverty, and they had made a deliberate move to impact and make a difference.
And so as we said goodbye we armed them with a MOUNTAIN of Beehive clothes to bless the community that they were moving into. The Beehive exists to change lives, and our DNA is always to give, and give generously. Any opportunity, and we jump at it. And so that is what we did.
“It was like a sense of freedom just hit the room. There were tears but also a lot of rejoicing.”
After a few months of red tape, holding all of their possessions in storage (including The Beehive clothes), in April this year, they finally were able to start spreading the joy!
Tracy spent some time with a women’s group and choir, who had reached out for some support in a project to create a piggery to provide a future and an education for the children. Tracy was able to share some of her own personal story, have a meal together and then give out some of the clothes.
“After i told my story, a lot of the women started to open up about their own lives, troubles and abuses, which is so uncommon. [Those conversations rarely happen in Ugandan culture.] It was like a sense of freedom just hit the room. There were tears but also a lot of rejoicing.”
One thing that happens time and time again in The Beehive Ashford, is a moment where someone feels so entirely safe, that they can share their pain, their past and their hurt. It’s incredibly common for a stranger to sit down in our shop and burst into tears, because they know they’re safe to just be. When Tracy shared this part of the story with me, I couldn’t help but beam at the parallels of her experience of supporting women and creating space for them to open up, be vulnerable and to get the acceptance, the empathy and the support they needed to share- and share, over a bundle of clothes. Clearly ‘The Beehive Effect’ travels with the clothes.
Tracy with the women’s group.
“...It was a perfect opportunity to lay out the clothes and allow the caregivers to be made to feel beautiful, valued and that they matter.”
Just. a few weeks later, the rest of the clothes were taken to the Nankandulo Church and Child Development Centre. The new school intake were invited, with their caregivers, to the church to be prayed for. It was a perfect opportunity to lay out the clothes and allow the caregivers to be made to feel beautiful, valued and that they matter.
It never stops being incredible to me, how clothes donated by a generous community, can change lives in such a massive way.
Geoff handing out clothes to the caregivers.
Tracy and Geoff at The Nankandulo Church and Child Development Centre
There is a bitter-sweet feeling that comes to us as a team, when one of our Beehive family leave us. The Beehive was always designed as a hub of activity where people come, get filled up and sent out again. But sometimes, letting people go, can be painful… We rejoice, and we shed tears, all in one breath. But with the sadness of missing our friends, we are also incredibly proud of all that Tracy and Geoff have already begun to do in changing lives in their new community in Uganda. And we are so grateful and excited to be able to support them in their new adventures.
We will keep you updated on Tracy and Geoff’s story. We know there will be much more to come.
Got your own Beehive story to tell? No matter how big or small, we’d love to hear it- fill in this easy form and tell us about your Beehive Story. (Even if you want us to keep it private and not share it, that’s absolutely ok. But we’d still love to know!)
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Author: Karen Thatcher (“Creativity and Comms Guru”)
Karen is one of our Core Team at The Beehive. She has been with us since day one, and oversees all the design, comms, marketing and digital side of what we do. When she’s not volunteering her time at The Beehive, she is a Freelance Creative & Communications Consultant, and has a little Empathy Card Shop on the side too.