Exeter Waitrose shoppers choose Barn Owl Trust for £1,500 donation
The Barn Owl Trust, a small national charity based in Ashburton, Devon, will use the £1,500 donation to support and conserve barn owls in the wild through practical conservation work, owl rehabilitation, and education.
Customers at Exeter Waitrose have chosen a Devon wildlife charity to receive £1,500 through the store's Community Matters Project.
Shoppers voted at the checkout throughout the month using tokens, and the Barn Owl Trust came out as the overall winner. The Waitrose and Partners scheme has donated more than £50 million to good causes to date.
The Barn Owl Trust is a small national charity based in Ashburton, Devon. It works to conserve the barn owl and its environment through practical conservation work, owl rehabilitation, nestbox installation and sales, research and education. The team also answers thousands of emails and phone calls each year from landowners, businesses and members of the public through a free national enquiry and advice service.
The donation will go directly into the Trust's efforts to support and conserve barn owls in the wild.
Dr Pip Laker, the Trust's Senior Conservation and Science Officer, met representatives of the Exeter store and the Community Matters Project to thank them in person on behalf of the charity and its wildlife.
"As a charity, donations are a major source of financial support, allowing us to help one of the UK's most beautiful and loved birds," said Dr Laker. "This amazing donation will directly help our work to conserve and protect wild Barn Owls in the UK, and we are incredibly grateful to the customers of Exeter Waitrose who chose to think of us when choosing their preferred charity."
The donation was made through Benevity, a platform that connects major corporations and their employees with nonprofit organisations around the world.