The International Centre for Birds of Prey closes to public
rossonline
Posted On February 19, 2022
The International Centre for Birds of Prey in Newent has announced it will close its doors to the public after almost 55 years of welcoming people to the centre.
In a statement they said: “Like many businesses the toll of the last two years has been huge, and we feel we must take steps to ensure the future of our charity and its work. This is by no means the end of ICBP, and we are excited to share our next steps with all our supporters. However, these steps will be as a private charitable conservation facility and no longer as a public collection.
“We would like to thank everyone for the support they have shown us, not only during the pandemic but throughout our entire journey thus far. We hope that many of you will continue your valuable support as we enter this new phase and that we will continue to help conserve birds of prey for future generations, together.
“The closure of our Newent centre is immediate, effective from Thursday 17th February 2022, and we will be emailing all customers and ticket holders with information about our next steps. However, we will be honouring our current commitments and will continue with this season’s Owl Evenings and Experience Days, up until March 16th 2022. We understand that our closure is disappointing news and that you may have concerns, however, please help us through this difficult time by referring to updates before contacting the office. We have created an FAQ section to answer as many questions as possible, as quickly as we can, and the team will be available to help with all additional queries.
“We are excited to share our new direction and believe it will allow us to contribute to the conservation of birds of prey even more than before. We are moving to a new location to create a facility dedicated to our conservation breeding efforts. This new facility with Jemima will concentrate on the conservation issues but will not be open to the public. We also intend to develop our ability to deliver new and innovative specialist courses and lectures to support the wider conservation community.
“This is a bittersweet time for ICBP, an end of an era and this part of its life, but also a great opportunity. We would like to thank all staff, volunteers, members and visitors – both past and present – for their support and dedication. We hope that you are as excited as we are for these next steps, and we will keep you updated via our website and newsletters.”
Important information:
Owl Evenings and Experience Days will continue until March 16th 2022. All customers have been emailed updates
Ticket bookings and gift vouchers will be automatically refunded for all dates after 17th February 2022. All customers have been emailed updates
Members and regular donors have been emailed an update.
