Kate Humble found her forever home on an idyllic farm in Wye Valley. After tiring of life in London, the TV presenter, and her husband, Ludo Graham, made the big move to Monmouthshire in 2007, where they purchased an old stone farmhouse with four acres of land.
After growing up in rural Berkshire, Kate's return to the countryside felt like a poignant, full circle moment, and it also allowed the BBC star to immerse herself in nature, while setting up her very own working farm and rural skills centre, Humble by Nature.
In a moving and unforeseen twist, Kate's home has also facilitated her relationship with a local charity, Bees for Development, which promotes sustainable beekeeping while combating poverty around the world.
This year, HELLO! is partnering with the Big Give as it launches what it hopes will be its biggest ever Christmas fundraiser, and as part of the initiative, Kate caught up with HELLO! for an exclusive chat about finding happiness in nature, plus why beekeeping is more important than ever.
Bees for Development is a cause close to Kate's heart, not to mention her home. "Their headquarters are in my local town," she said. "I came across them about 12 years ago and I was really intrigued about how bees could help people with development.
© Instagram"We talk a lot about the importance of bees generally and as pollinators, as without bees, we wouldn't have any food. So I knew they were really important insects, and a really important part of all our lives but what I hadn't understood was that the work that Bees for Development do, involves working with some of the world's poorest and most marginalised people."
© Bees for DevelopmentIn effect, Bees for Development teaches beekeeping skills to people in the poorest communities of the world, enabling them to establish a secure income, while preserving and benefitting biodiversity across the globe.
"For 12 years, they've taught courses at our farm on how to keep bees and not just in the traditional way where you take honey," Kate added. "But also for people who don't necessarily want to go through the work of taking honey, but want to support pollinators."
© Bees for DevelopmentKate herself has tried her hand at beekeeping, and although her busy schedule has prevented her from pursuing it further, she still does her part for the environment. "We do have bees on the farm," she said. We have a local beekeeper who keeps bees on the farm. I absolutely loved it but it is quite time consuming so it's a big commitment.
"Something that I've very consciously done in the garden is plant things like lavenders, fox gloves, you know, that bees love," continued Kate.
"It's also good if you've got a vegetable patch, which I have, or fruit trees, because they'll help pollinate them. So you can create a really good environment for bees. But keeping bees in that traditional way, I have to confess, I found it was very time consuming and because I wasn't at home regularly, I didn't make a very good beekeeper!"
And speaking of home, when Kate and her husband, Ludo, decided to move in 2007, the concept of a country life was extremely important.
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"I realised that I just wasn't cut out for living in a city," reflected Kate. "I didn't really enjoy any part of city life. I've never been someone who likes shopping and I don't like big crowds of people and I love silence. Like this morning, I woke up before dawn and I was out with my pigs and my hens and taking the dogs out and that's what I love."
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Referencing her childhood in Bray, Berkshire, Kate said: "It was absolutely really important to be somewhere that I suppose in some ways reminded me of my childhood.
So, even though it's a completely different part of the country, you know, I wake up and look at trees and hear owls hooting in the woods at the bottom of our garden and I'm looking out the window now, and I can see sheep in the field and that's what makes me happy."
