Nicola Reed

Reed holds a Master's degree in Fine Art from St Martin's School of Art,[1] a PGDip from Chelsea College of Arts and a teaching degree from University College London.

Reed began beekeeping as a hobby in 2013, after taking over a hive that had been gifted to her husband for his birthday.[2] As of 2022, her hives house over 320,000 bees.

Reed is a media commentator on beekeeping and the decline of the UK bee population. In a 2018 article for The Times newspaper, she attributed the decline in bee numbers to a loss of wildflowers resulting from urban sprawl and the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. She also expressed support for legal action against the UK Government to suspend its use of thiamethoxam, a pesticide used on sugar beet crops that is thought to kill bees.[3] Reed has also attributed the decline in bee numbers to the varroa mite, following its spread to the UK in 2003.[4] She recommends organic produce over mass agricultural produce that relies heavily on bee-killing pesticides, and advocates that households increase the bee population by planting bee-friendly wildflowers, letting lawns grow, providing bee hotels, and hanging baskets.[4][5]

She adopts the beekeeping technique advocated by Bill Anderson of The Idler, which involves collecting only small quantities of honey during periods of surplus.[6]

According to a report by the Financial Times in June 2022, Reed plans to establish a beekeeping school in the grounds of her home in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.[6]

She is ambassador for the bee-keeping charity Bees for Development, which helps some of the world's poorest communities alleviate poverty through beekeeping.[2]

Reed is a trustee of The Big Give, an online resource that enables charity donors to find and support charities projects in their field of interest.[7] The Big Give has raised over £233m for thousands of charity projects, including over £3.67m for the Disasters Emergency Committee's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, £5.5 million for COVID-19 relief efforts, £4.3m for environmental causes via the Green Match Fund and over £2m for the Grenfell Tower fire appeal.[8][9] The organisation is one of the UK's largest philanthropic endeavours, with a target of raising £1bn by 2030. The Reed family are among its principal donors.[10]

Reed is a former trustee of Ethiopiaid, a Reed family charity working to relieve poverty and sickness in Ethiopia.[11]

Reed is the founder of the Reed Short Film Awards,[12] an annual film competition to recognize and celebrate the art of short films. The competition was open to emerging filmmakers from around the world, with entries in various genres including drama, comedy, documentary, and animation.

Competition partners included BAFTA, Channel Four, the British Council, Total Film and Creative England. Winning films were selected by a panel of judges, including film industry professionals such as Jaime Winstone, Eugene Simon, Stuart Cosgrove, Roger Chapman and Paul Weiland.[13][14][15]

The winners received a £10,000 cash prize. Their films were showcased at film festivals and screenings worldwide.[16]

The competition ran from 2010 to 2016.[17]

Reed is a book illustrator, photographer and painter.

Her animated projection work, The Busy Bee Has No Time for Sorrow, was shown at the Mdina Biennale, Malta in 2020.[18]

Her work as a book illustrator includes Fox by Anthony Gardener[19] and Froth and Bubble by Bill Keeling.

Reed has tutored fine art on the UAL Camberwell Chelsea Wimbledon Foundation and at the University of Gloucestershire. She has led drawing workshops at the University of Malta, Chelsea College of Arts, The Idler Magazine and The Connection in Piccadilly.[20]

Reed lives in Wiltshire and Notting Hill with her husband James. The couple have six children.[1]