Can you help us?
All the people who work at the Aviary are volunteers. All money is used to buy fresh food and medicines for the birds, as well as to pay for the electricity and maintenance of the building.
We’re working with Bournemouth Parks Foundation, a local parks charity, to fundraise £200,000 to rebuild Bournemouth’s aviary which is a sanctuary for homeless tropical birds. The new aviary will offer a 360-degree viewing experience and more flight space for birds, you can view the plans for the new aviary here. We’re over halfway towards our fundraising target and are hopeful that we’ll be able to start building the new aviary soon.
Donations
There are a number of different ways you can help us with our efforts to raise funds for the new Aviary, and also for our continuing running costs:
- Online on Bournemouth Parks Foundation’s aviary webpage
- By calling 01202 451513
- Sending a cheque to Bournemouth Parks Foundation, Queens Park Pavilion, Queens Park West Drive, Bournemouth, BH8 9BY
- Outside the Aviary with pound coins given to Polly, our talking parrot
- On the central cage of the Aviary with your small change dropped into our white pipe
- Larger donations and bequests can be organised by contacting Bournemouth Parks Foundation.
- A card reader by the Aviary that donates £2 to us
- Emailing Bournemouth Parks Foundation for more information
Whether you’d like to celebrate an occasion, remember a loved one or simply support the reconstruction of Bournemouth’s aviary you can purchase an engraved brass bird with your own personal message engraved.
You can also leave a legacy to help support the rebuild of the aviary. For more information visit the Bournemouth Parks Foundation website.
The aviary is run by volunteers, funded by donations and sponsorship with in kind support from BCP Council.
Polly the talking parrot
Our largest bird lives outside the Aviary, and she is a large wooden parrot called Polly who talks when you put a Pound coin into her slot!
Polly has several different phrases to thank you for your donation.
She was carved by sculptor Tom Harvey from Wiltshire - thanks Tom!
Polly was given to us by Bournemouth Parks Foundation to help us with fund-raising for looking after the birds and ongoing maintenance and also for the new aviary building already designed and waiting for sufficient funds.
Small Change
We also have a small white plastic pipe through the fence of the middle section of the Aviary. A lot of our money comes from small change dropped into the pipe, which falls into the collection box.
Now that Polly has arrived, she is collecting quite a few donations, too. Unfortunately, Polly can only "eat" one-pound coins, but we are more than happy to collect other coins dropped into our white plastic pipe.
Online Donations
If you don't expect to visit the Aviary soon, but you would still like to help, then it is very easy to make an Online Donation through the Bournemouth Parks Foundation website.
Larger Donations and Bequests
Sometimes, we are fortunate enough to receive a bigger donation or bequest. Larger donations and bequests can be organised by contacting Bournemouth Parks Foundation.
Our Sponsors
United Taxis - Bournemouth
United Taxis - 01202 556677 - help us in several important ways, including guaranteeing our lease and donating a little from every completed fare they take.
How did United Taxis get involved?
Bournemouth has had an aviary in Bournemouth Gardens for as long as anyone can remember, in fact at one point there was also aviaries in Boscombe Gardens and Redhill Park. The aviary in Bournemouth originally had a thatched roof which caught fire and the aviary was subsequently rebuilt.
The current aviary was threatened with closure in 2001. It was at this point that United Taxis stepped in. One of their drivers sat on the rank between fares noticed an article in the Bournemouth echo stating that the council planned to close the aviary due to cost concerns within a week unless someone stepped in to provide a rescue package. Alarmed at this the driver contacted the council and agreed to organize a team of volunteers to take over from the council staff that were running the aviary.
The driver then persuaded the board of United Taxis to sponsor the purchase of food and veterinary fees, he also set up a donations tube at the aviary facilitating public donations. United Taxis continue to support the aviary and this much loved public amenity survives to this day.
United’s Taxi driver is still involved and the aviary continues to be run by volunteers. When the new aviary is built United Taxis will continue with their support as will the volunteers.
Vets 4 Pets - Winton, Bournemouth
Vets 4 Pets in Winton - 01202 635160 - do not charge us to treat sick or injured birds, although we still pay for medicines and tonics. They are also very generous with helpful advice about looking after the birds.
Our Volunteers
The birds need fresh food and water every day of the year. We have six different seed mixes, insectivorous meal plus much more to suit all our birds, and use enough to fill four dustbins every 3 weeks or so.
We also give them special foods, supplements, fruit, vegetables and treats. All of these need buying and transporting to our food storeroom.
They make a lot of mess and so we have to clean it daily... rain, shine, snow or frost! It is rewarding work, but hard.
Looking after the Aviary and its birds is a great responsibility because it is easy to make a mistake, and almost impossible to correct. We have a small group of volunteers and are careful to assess anyone who would like to share the work.
All new volunteer workers have to work alongside some of our trusted volunteers for a probationary period. If you have appropriate experience and would like to help, please contact us to explain your interest, experience and skills.