A WINCHESTER charity has won a million pound grant to makes schools more bee-friendly.

Learning through Landscapes has been awarded £1.3m funding from the Lottery Heritage Fund.

The money will be spent nationwide to help transform 260 school grounds into pollinator-friendly habitats in a project called Polli:Nation.

Green ‘stepping stones’ such as bug hotels and bee houses will be created to enable insects to move with ease between different areas. The number of bees, vital for pollination of crops, is currently in decline.

Juno Hollyhock, executive director of Learning through Landscapes, said: “We are delighted that the Polli:nation project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and that 260 schools can now transform their grounds to become pollinator-friendly habitats.

“We believe that this important and inspiring project will help children and young people to learn about the development of their natural environments, both in and out of their school grounds, teaching them that the changes we make to our environment can have a profound effect on critical issues such as our declining bee population.”