The work on the chimneys and roof has begun, but work on the attics couldn’t begin until we received our Bat Licence. This involved us commissioning a bat survey which revealed a fascinating fact: we have one solitary bat who visits our roof space regularly!
Our bat is a brown long-eared bat who feeds on moths, beetles, flies, earwigs and spiders. He or she doesn’t nest in our roof, but flies in and out. This means that as long as we maintain our bat’s access, we have permission to continue with the work we need to do.
We’re actually rather thrilled to have our very own bat. We’ve launched an October “Name our Batty Bat” competition – rather appropriately, given the approach of Halloween… You can submit your entry via Facebook or Instagram, by email to thebirchamcentre@gmail.com, or fill in one of the forms we’ll put in the porch. We will announce the winner and the chosen name in November.
In addition, we’re running a children’s Bircham Bat picture competition: anyone under 16 is invited to come up with a picture of the Bircham Centre bat and drop it into the Centre before 1 November. We’ll share the entries on social media and there will be small prizes for the best pictures. Please put your name, your age, your suggested name for our bat and a contact number on the back of the picture.
The Bat Licence survey and report cost in the region of £2,000 so this has added to the cost of the Raise the Roof Project. We are continuing to fundraise through sponsorships, donations and events and our JustGiving page (https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/raisethebirchamcentreroof) will remain open for the time being.
