Andover Hawk Conservancy Trust funding school trips
The Weyhill based site is giving bursaries to Hampshire children
Last updated 3rd Jun 2024
West Hampshire's Hawk Conservancy Trust has secured funding to make sure children can still take part in school trips there during the cost-of-living crisis.
The Weyhill bird of prey centre's got support from financial services company Investec.
That'll go towards bursaries for children across Hampshire, so they don't miss out of their class mates go on a visit to the site.
The Trust says not having school trips could be 'detrimental to children's experiences, their learning and to the charity’s mission to help the future of our planet by inspiring conservation through education'.
The Trust’s Chief Executive Penny Smout said:
“Our visitor centre is all about shining a light on the incredible world of birds of prey; our work to conserve them; and spreading the word to inspire more people to appreciate the wonders of wildlife and the need to look after it. One of our aims is to encourage pupils, from all walks of life, to follow a career path in conservation and that spark can come from a school visit.
"At the same time, we have research to show just how valuable being close to nature is for the wellbeing of us humans. Our hope is that with this funding, we can help bring all of those benefits to children who often don’t get the chance to experience such things.”
The Hawk Conservancy has also been given a grant from the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) for a travel bursary to help fund transport costs for state-funded schools where high fuel and coach hire prices might be a financial barrier to some schools.