Petition for statue to honour ‘Bee Lady’ gathers momentum
CALLS FOR PERMANENT TRIBUTE TO ICONIC FUNDRAISER JEAN BISHOP
IN another call for a fitting lasting tribute to Hull’s “Bee Lady” Jean Bishop, an online petition seeking a statue and donation box in her honour is gaining signatures fast.
Jean Bishop, 99, died peacefully on October 3.
She was a much beloved figure in Hull as she dressed in a bee costume rattling her charity box in aid of Age UK and its predecessor Age Concern.
Darren Dixon created the petition and has fond memories of seeing and talking to Jean with his daughter Jessica in the past ten years.
Darren said: “My daughter used to love going into town looking for her.
“And if we found her, we’d have lovely chats with her as well. Hull needs something to remember her by.”
Hull Paragon station or Princes Quay are the two locations viewed by Darren as the most fitting for any statue or memorial to Jean Bishop.
The extraordinary fundraiser was most often seen in her bee costume and with her charity tin at Princes Quay.
“95 per cent of Hull would have had the same experience,” added Darren of seeing and talking to the Bee Lady.
Jean Bishop raised £124,000 for Age UK during 30 years of fundraising and already has a few small lasting tributes to her in the city.
These include a bee-coloured public telephone box and the naming of a care centre for the elderly and frail in her honour, the Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre.
There was also a small 35cm tall statue of Jean Bishop, in bee costume, unveiled at the Lord Mayor’s parlour in the Guildhall in 2018.
It was one of 25 sculptures that year across England celebrating inspirational women on the hundredth anniversary of the first women in the UK gaining the right to vote in 1918.
“She deserves more than a tiny thing like that,” said Darren Dixon when he was informed of the previous mini statue.
It’s a sentiment that he seems to be far from alone in expressing.
Hundreds had signed his statue petition on Monday as it gathered momentum.
An East Riding resident, who never even had the good fortune to meet Jean, first suggested a lifelike statue which doubles up as a charity donation point.
Responding to this idea, a Hull City Council spokesman said: “The entire city was deeply saddened with the news of the passing of Jean Bishop. In the days following her death, the tremendous outpouring of love and admiration showed how much she meant to all of us.
“Jean has, undoubtedly, left an important legacy and Hull City Council will look to support and honour her legacy as best we can.”
To sign the petition, visit www. change.org and search “jean Bishop”.