FINAL UPDATE:

Wow. With all 30 days done, all fundraising finished, and several weeks on since the zoo was able to open, we want to say THANK YOU. We smashed our target, currently having raised £1,802!

We’ve cycled, ran, baked and danced, designed and raised awareness for OUR ZOO. Over 1,000 miles were covered by the Strava team, and over £300 was raised outside of the fundraiser directly on the art designs.

We went a long way to help SAVING OUR ZOO, and every single one of you should be proud of the work you have done to help. 

But the Zoo is not out of the woods yet. Every adoption, donation, visit and share helps to pull Chester Zoo back from the crippling damage they have endured. Together, both as a Youth Board and as supporters of OUR ZOO, we can continue to Save Chester Zoo from extinction.

THANK YOU.

OLDER UPDATES:

EXTRA CHALLENGE - Dance for Wildlife:

This week, Chester Zoo Youth Board's own dancer-extraordinaire Felix will be putting the FUN into FUNDRAISING and hosting a couple of Zoom classes, where you can learn to Cha Cha Cha from the comfort of your own home! The classes will be at 5pm on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th June - to get an invite to the Zoom, please email danceforwildlife@gmail.com! 

FUNDRAISING UPDATE:

We at the Chester Zoo Youth Board were delighted on Wednesday of this week when it was announced that zoos in England are able to reopen from June 15^th; this means that Chester Zoo can start to welcome back visitors and start to and generate income for the first time since we were forced to close on March 23^rd.  

This is BRILLIANT news.

We are all so grateful for everyone who has donated to the Youth Board’s fundraising so far - we have been absolutely blown away by your generosity, and we have already raised almost triple our initial target of £500! You have all truly helped us in our fight for the Zoo’s future.

But the fight is not over yet.

While Chester Zoo can now restart to generate income, lockdown has had an undeniable impact on our financial security, and there is still no Government funding for big zoos, so we are not out of the woods yet. This is why we will be carrying on with our fundraising as planned - we will keep baking, dancing, running, cycling and drawing and anything else that may come to mind to help raise much-needed funds! So this is another call to all of the Zoo’s lovely supporters: you have done so much already, but if it is at all possible for you to do so please continue to help, please visit the Zoo if you’re able to, but if you can’t visit us just yet, please donate.

We STILL need YOUTH to help save Our Zoo.

Thank you.

ORIGINAL STORY:

We are the Chester Zoo Youth Board – 13 young people, aged 18 to 25, who are working to make sure that the Zoo offers a universal experience which puts young people right at the heart of it. We are proud to act as a voice for young people – but right now, we are worried. 

Being unable to open means that Chester Zoo has no income from visitors; every month they stay closed it is costing £465,000 to keep the Zoo running, to keep the animals healthy and to keep preventing extinction. They are facing debts of £24 million by the end of 2020: this could be financially crippling, and the Zoo are fighting for their future.

But they are not fighting alone.

Many of us have visited Chester Zoo since we were children: we all know the joy a trip to the Zoo can bring to families of all ages and how the Zoo can inspire and empower young people to care about the dangers facing wildlife across the world. But now the Zoo that we grew up with is facing the biggest danger of its’ lifetime. We don’t want to live in a world where Chester Zoo no longer exists. We will do all we can to save our zoo.

We don’t just need YOU to help save our zoo; we need YOUTH to help save it.

The Chester Zoo Youth Board have taken inspiration from the many passionate young people who have already been raising funds for Chester Zoo, and from 8^th June to 8^th July we will be embarking on a variety of challenges ourselves.

Beth is an apprentice tattoo artist and will be using her creative flair to produce 30 designs in 30 days! These will all be Chester Zoo-related and available for purchase in a variety of formats, from mugs to prints, to tote bags and t-shirts, and all proceeds will go towards our fundraising. To view and buy her designs, please visit her RedBubble store here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/celticdragoness/shop?artistUserName=CelticDragoness&collections=1467180&iaCode=all-departments&sortOrder=relevant 

Andy, Connor, Chelsie, Emily, Holly, Izzy, Lloyd and Sian will be walking, running or cycling a collective 281 miles – the combined age of all of the Youth Board members!

Chelsie will be channelling her inner Mary Berry and baking lots of goodies for her friends, family and neighbours in exchange for donations!

And more challenges will be taken on in the coming weeks as we try to help save Our Zoo from extinction. Any donation you can make to help us on our first mission as a group will be greatly appreciated by us and by The Zoo. Thank you.