The Northern Kites project set out to reintroduce the red kite as a breeding bird in the North East, an aim that it achieved in 2006 after a gap of 170 years. But this project also had ambitious aims to do with social involvement and contributing to the region’s economy.
Project Manager Keith Bowey says starting evaluation early was the key to success. “Right from the word ‘go’ I gave the team two watchwords: ‘capture’ and ‘count’. I wanted them to gather every piece of hard data and qualitative evidence they could find.”
Armed with their impressive interim evaluation, Northern Kites persuaded the region’s main bus company to adopt the ‘Red Kite’ brand. “At first they were sceptical, but we could show just how much the community was involved, and the potential benefits to business.”
The Red Kite bus service now takes thousands of people a day to sites around Gateshead’s Derwent Valley where they can watch the kites in the wild. The evaluation was so effective in gaining support for Northern Kites, that the project finished well under budget, and the team was able to continue its work for a further seven months.
The project successfully encouraged schools across the area to ‘adopt’ a kite, helping pupils of all ages and backgrounds learn about the rare bird.