The Owl Sanctuary at Festival Park is extending and improving its facilities thanks to donations and help from volunteers. When Willmott Dixon heard about the campaign, staff at The Works project wanted to play their part and collected surplus materials to help with the building work, including plywood and stainless steel meshing.

The materials were used to create seven much bigger aviaries, giving the birds brighter, more comfortable homes. With more light entering the aviaries, it also means visitors to the sanctuary have a much better view of the beautiful birds of prey housed at the sanctuary, which also includes hawks, falcons and buzzards.

Willmott Dixon is working on several projects to regenerate the former steelworks site at Ebbw Vale, known as The Works, and the latest is a multi-storey car park. The site is key to Blaenau Gwent Council’s strategy to build a vibrant future, and raise educational attainment in the county borough. It already includes Wales’ first ever 3-16 maintained school, innovative post-16 facilities, plus new homes and a hospital.

Neal Stephens, managing director of Willmott Dixon in Wales, said: “When we heard that the Owl Sanctuary were seeking materials to help them re-build the aviaries we really wanted to ensure they had everything they needed in order to do so. As a company that strives to support the communities it operates in, before, during and after construction, we are always looking for ways to help local businesses and organisations, as well as ensuring surplus materials are re-used where possible when a project is completed.”

Malcolm Jones, owner of the Owl Sanctuary at Festival Park, said: “We’re very grateful to Willmott Dixon for donating these hugely useful materials. It’s been instrumental in helping us re-build the aviaries, which had become very old and were very dark. It’s fantastic to see how much pleasure the new aviaries are giving the birds, staff and visitors alike.”