Fair Isle bird observatory rebuild gets £500k charitable trust bridging loan

THE WORK to rebuild the Fair Isle bird observatory has been boosted with the award of a £500,000 loan from Shetland Charitable Trust.

The money is coming from the trust’s capital bridging works loan scheme.

This is designed to provide interest free loans to alleviate cash flow issues capital projects are waiting for other funding to come through. The maximum loan is £1.5 million.

Work is well underway on building a new Fair Isle bird observatory after the previous one succumbed to a large fire in 2019.

It was announced in 2021 that the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise were putting around £2.35 million into the project, when was then costed at £7.4 million.

The project is also being supported by the trust’s own funds, as well as an international crowdfunding appeal.

The Shetland Islands Council administered Crown Estate Coastal Communities Fund and the Garfield Weston Foundation have also contributed to the project.

However, the rebuild project has suffered delays, including in transporting the building’s modular units to Fair Isle, and at the moment the trust which operates the bird observatory is planning to reopen in 2024.

All of the modules have been transported to Fair Isle and have been put in place.

Some other projects which have benefited from the charitable trust’s capital bridging works loan scheme in recent years include Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary, Scalloway Community Development Company and the Papa Stour History and Community Group.