Hull is set to honor Jean Bishop, the “Bee Lady,” with Bee Lady Day in 2025, celebrating her legacy of charity work.
I reported for the Hull Daily Mail for forty years. I interviewed many people, and Jean was one of my favorites. She was 91 and had arthritis, but she wanted to take David Walliams home.
Jean won Fundraiser of the Year at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2013. She wanted to raise another £100,000 for Age UK for Hull & East Yorkshire. Jean was small but full of energy.
The interview went by fast as we laughed and shared stories. I filled a notebook with quotes while she spent hours collecting charity money. She wore a bee costume in Hull, complete with a hat and antennae, and made friends while raising money.
This tiny champion deserves a day in Hull named in her honor. People will make her proud on May 13, 2025, which would have been her 103rd birthday.
Age UK declared Bee Lady Day and hopes the community joins in. They want to continue Jean’s legacy because she was selfless and raised much money. She’d be thrilled but also humble.
Jean’s maiden name was Applegate, and she also won Charity Champion at the Pride of East Yorkshire Awards. She told me about her early life, that she grew up in Hull and was born in Louth. Her family moved before she turned one, and she played games in the street.
Jean was the youngest of four and went to Thoresby Street School and Middle Street School. Her mom took in washing, and her dad owned the Masons Arms Hotel. He went bankrupt but declined a holiday camp offer because he thought it was ridiculous.
Jean started her first job at 14 at Harlands Printers. She lived near the Land of Green Ginger and rode her bike to work, once crashing into a level crossing.
During the war, she wanted to join the Land Army, but her dad got her a factory job instead at the Brough aircraft factory. There, she met her husband, Cliff Bishop, who was a fitter.
Jean worked as a dinner lady and then at Harlands again. She left to care for Cliff when he became ill. After he died, Jean joined knitting classes at Age Concern, which is how she found Age UK.
I met her in her west Hull home, where she had lived since the 1950s. Jean ran the knitting classes, but she said they were more chatting than knitting. She liked dressing up and wearing hats.
Jean’s daughter made her bee outfit out of fur fabric and three hula hoops. She wore it for collecting money and was amazed it lasted so long because kids touched it often.
Jean said people were friendly, and she never had a bad moment.
She was nice to talk to, and might forget why I was there. She stopped asking why people visited, even though she talked to many people and had been filmed. She didn’t know why, so she invited everyone in and then told them to ‘carry on’. We hope people carry on her work.