Owl charity to open up to the public

A conservation charity protecting England’s barn owls is expanding its educational work, thanks to Big Issue Invest – The Big Issue’s social investment arm.

With young readers celebrating the postal service birds, among other magical creatures, for Harry Potter Day today, the Barn Owl Centre in Gloucestershire hopes more children will soon be able to see real birds up close.

The charity has been focused mainly on its conservation and rescue work, looking after 50 birds at a farm on the edge of Gloucester, although it also opens up to bookings by children’s groups and other visitors.

It now hopes to take on staff to create a permanent visitor’s centre with more educational activities for the public.

“The investment gives us an amazing lift – it will allow us to create a fully-operational visitor’s centre,” said founder Vincent Jones. “It’s a starting point to build something special here.”

The investment is part of Big Issue Invest’s £5 million Impact Loans England programme.

The lending scheme is aimed at helping social enterprises and charities in England looking to grow, making funding of between £20,000 and £150,000 
available to organisations for expansion plans – whether its buying equipment, hiring new talent, or making progress with business development plans.

“A lot of great organisations struggle to access small and medium-sized loans, so we wanted to provide support for those exciting social enterprises and charities,” said Daniel Wilson-Dodd, Head of Lending at Big Issue Invest.

Visit bigissueinvest.com for more information