We’re coming up to 4 years since The Beehive really began (although it’s been many more years in the making), so I think it’s probably about time I write my story of how I got here.
For those of you that don’t know me, Hi! I’m Becca, the manager/founder/dreamer/CEO (whatever you want to call me) of The Beehive. I am a single mum to 3 kids: Noah (10), Judah (7), and Aurora (5), also a very daft Cavapoo called Keiko.
I am one of the key leaders at Pneuma Church (formerly known as Ashford Vineyard), help run the Social Enterprise network in Ashford, a member of Ashford Sings, a bookworm, gin lover and much more!
My Beehive story began in 2007, when I decided to leave university, where I was training to be a Nurse, and come home. I got an ‘interim’ job at Caffè Nero whilst I figured out what I wanted to do, and found I’d landed on something I was really quite good at. Within a year I had progressed to manager level within in the company- I loved working in a café.
It was then that I started talking about having my own café one day.
I learned a lot, working for Caffè Nero, but I definitely wasn’t a fan of being a “cog in a big corporation”. I wanted MY PLACE to be “…a café and….’ but never quite knew what that ‘and’ would be… a bookshop? …a gallery? …handmade items?
“Within a year I had progressed to manager level within in the company- I loved working in a cafe.
It was then that I started talking about having my own cafe one day.”
“I worked with him on both of these, putting together my high street café knowledge and his passion for the community (which was infectious).”
During these years my Dad also became interested in running cafés, he was particularly focused on community cafés. He left the corporate world, and was aiming to open a café in his village.
For many reasons this never quite came to fruition in the way he expected. He did start a pop up café in the church my parents go to and helped launch and manage a youth café in Maidstone. I worked with him on both of these, putting together my high street café knowledge and his passion for the community (which was infectious).
Once I started having children, my job no longer covered the cost of childcare. So Dad and I decided to launch a consultancy business, using the things we had learned to help others launch or improve their own community coffee shops. I learned so much more about my skills, knowledge and ability during this time and knew that what I still really wanted to do… was do it myself.
After a period of suffering from Post-Natal Depression, I had decided I needed to make some changes and began attending a new local church - Ashford Vineyard (now Pneuma Church). They are an outrageously outward focused church and I felt like I had found a place that my burgeoning Community Coffee Shop idea would fit. When the church moved into its own building, I presented the idea of a pop up coffee shop to the senior pastors Nic and Chris. They were really supportive (but thankfully more visionary than I was at that time) and let me go away and do some planning and dreaming. They also gave me the opportunity to take on some leadership responsibility in the church, and mentored me.
“...it will be a central space for individuals, businesses and community groups to all use. Just as bees are constantly and productively in and out of the hive, it will be a place full of life and activity... In the same way that bees pollinate a garden we want people to be given the chance to reach their full potential and in turn improve the community of Ashford as a whole.””
It didn’t take long for me to realise that a Saturday morning café in some, out of the way, industrial estate was not what I wanted to do at all. I wanted to be on the high street, where the ‘people’ are, I wanted a proper business that made money, which could invest in the community; created employment and could impact a much wider range of people. So I started planning for that, and The Beehive was born. I was dreaming of a Community Hub and Café which could further the impact of the church as a whole. In 2016 I wrote these words:
“The community hub will be named ‘The Beehive’ as it will be a central space for individuals, businesses and community groups to all use. Just as bees are constantly and productively in and out of the hive, it will be a place full of life and activity. The Beehive aims to build up it’s users, to leave them feeling rejuvenated, special, healthier in mind and body and filled with dreams and optimism. In the same way that bees pollinate a garden we want people to be given the chance to reach their full potential and in turn improve the community of Ashford as a whole.”
And that was as far as I got, I pushed a few metaphorical doors but nothing happened, until…..
In August 2017, I went away on holiday with my husband and kids. It was one of the worst experiences of my life, but whilst I was away I got a message from Nic. This was unusual as she is really good at boundaries and protecting down time. She was really excited about something and needed to book a meeting with me as soon as I got home. So I met with her, it was one of the strangest meetings ever. She shared with me a dream she had had about a beautiful clothes shop in Ashford, where some things were free and some things were paid for. I felt like I had finally found the ‘and’ I had been looking for, all those years. I shared with her that my marriage seemed to be falling apart from out of nowhere - there were a lot of happy and sad tears in that meeting!!
In Nic’s dream she somehow knew that it was October. So we decided to go for it, with almost no money, no clothes, no shop, no team, and 6 weeks to do it in. Some might call us crazy, but we believed that God had told us this was what we were meant to be doing. The fact that we managed to overcome all of those obstacles and open on 2nd October, with a shop stocked with stunning clothes and team of incredible volunteers, showed us that we probably were right…
Becca at our pop-up shop, on the day she collected the keys.
The pop up shop, for the month of October was a rousing success. Everyone loved and supported the idea. So many people wanted it to carry on but it just wasn’t right at that time. We put al the summer clothes in storage, said goodbye to the shop and stuck to the plan. The following July we decided to put on another 2 day pop up and sell off all the summer clothes- we had decided that our pop up days were over and if we were going to do The Beehive we wanted it to be a permanent shop.
On the day we got the keys to our first shop, I found out my husband was having an affair. The moment my dreams were coming true my personal life was falling apart. Despite working hard to fix things, I found myself at the beginning of 2018 a newly single parent to three very small children, so the prospect of running a permanent Beehive seemed impossible at that time. I got a brilliant job working for MAF International, which had good pay and flexible hours. We had put The Beehive on the back burner.
When we had sold and given away all of our stock that summer, I genuinely thought it would be a few years before I came back to the idea…
God had different ideas, and a shop in the town centre, that we had spoken about and dreamed of having ‘one day’ came to US, even though we weren’t looking. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, so a matter of weeks after giving everything away, we made the decision to jump in and open a permanent shop. I ended up only doing my easy, comfortable job for 9 months…
In hindsight, I was so broken emotionally and mentally, still figuring out how on earth to do life as a single person, that I have absolutely no idea how I did it. If anyone else told me that story, I would listen open mouthed and disbelieving. I did do it though, I had incredible friends, a wonderful, hands on mentor, an amazing team of volunteers, and God was very much my strength when I didn’t have any.
Becca and Nic at our first permanent home- 2 North Street!
Becca and Karen at 1-3 North Street- our new home, since 2021.
It has been a rollercoaster. Throw into all that a whole year closed because of Covid-19 and another shop move (we’re now at 1-3 North Street!). But, I think we’re actually still on the start of the ride, we’re on the upwards climb and soon we’ll tip over the edge into the free fall, loops, twists and turns. I’m excited and loving every minute of it, but more than anything, I’m so glad that you’re on the ride with me.
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: Becca Wilkinson (“Big Boss”)
Becca is our Manager/Founder/Dreamer/CEO, The Big Boss of The Beehive. When she’s not doing everything Beehive, she is a single Mum to three kids, has one fluffy dog-baby, and is a Key Leader at Pneuma Church (formerly known as Ashford Vineyard).
You can follow her on Instagram!