Andover bird centre say future viability is a concern

One of north Hampshire’s best known visitor attractions say they’re becoming concerned about their future viability.

The Hawk conservancy near Andover - which specialises in the conservation of birds of prey - says if the lockdown drags on they may run out money.

Chief executive Penny Smout says they’ve lost half a year’s income from visitors:

"This last year has been the most challenging in the trust's 56 year history, by the time we get to the end of February we're projecting that we will have been closed for half a year.

The Hawk conservancy has 130 birds, and attracts thousands of visitors in a normal year, to help fund their conservation work both here and abroad.

But Penny says they’re in a financial race against time:

"There is a question over our longterm viability, at the moment it's not an immediate issue, the bottom line is we are burning through our reserves and the more that continues into 2021 the more those reserves are going to get eaten up.

Plans to build a new annexe for the conservancy's National bird of prey hospital have also been put on hold and the Trust is considering whether they can afford their conservancy work overseas this year.

Unlike other visitor attractions that can shutdown the Trust has to feed and maintain training of their birds. Penny continues:

"Even with furlough and some of the Government grant support, which is the £3000 a month we qualify for, we're still looking at £90-100,000 a month to operate."

Appeal

One thing the Trust did manage to achieve in 2020 was to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of Reg’s Wildflower Meadow - an area they use for one of their popular arena displays.

The Trust has launched the Guardians of the Meadow appeal to highlight this milestone, and they're inviting people to join in supporting the Trust through this challenging time.

You can find out more here: https://www.hawk-conservancy.org/support-us/meadow-appeal/

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