Fundraising
Give a little, Save a lot: Fundraising for the future of wildlife!
Staring in 2020, we have been holding an annual Zoo Do to raise awareness and money for AEECL, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, IOSF, The Fishing Cat Conservation Trust and VulPro. Alongside this we have also regularly celebrated world animal days where we have raised awareness for a particular species and raised money to support an in situ-based charity. As of 2024, we have raised over £9000 from all our fundraising events.
But what are these events and how can you participate in the next one?
Our annual Zoo Do! is an evening summer event, allowing visitors to visit the zoo after our usual closed hours. In the past this event has had a variety of different activities for all ages, keeper talks, a raffle full of prizes donated by Kent’s local businesses and of course amazing food and drink. To join our next Zoo Do! click the button below.
In August 2024 we joined in celebrating Share Savvy Saturday alongside many other zoos across the UK. This campaign day aimed to highlight how peoples use of social media can play a bad influence on the exotic pet trade if we are not careful with how we interact with certain posts. Our message was simple, we asked for people to never like, comment or share photos of wild animals being kept as pets online. Not to interact with a post that shows an animal behaving in a way that is drastically different to its wild behaviour, if it’s wearing clothes, eating human foods or interacting with a different species of animal it wouldn’t normally do so in the wild. As after all, together we can use social media as a conservational force for good if we are all a little bit more #ShareSavvy.
Our campaign day allowed us to host many #ShareSavvy awareness games around the zoo. As well as allowing us to fundraise for The Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance.
In May 2022, we celebrated world otter day by hosting an otter themed weekend. This event fundraised for IOSF and highlighted the major threats otters are facing in the wild such as habitat loss and the pet trade. This weekend consisted of a variety of activities from a letter hunt around the zoo, to keeper talks and otter themed quizzes!
VulPro
Supporting rescue, rehabilitation, rerelease and breeding of vultures in Africa.
AEECL
A Madagascan based charity promoting research, protection and restoring of the vital ecosystems that lemurs inhabit, collaborating with local communities and authorities to achieve a sustainable and biodiverse habitat for the future.
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Enhancing the understanding of bumblebee ecology and conservation. Increasing the quality and quantity of bumblebee habitat. Inspiring and enabling a diverse range of people to take action for bumblebees.
The International Otter Survival Fund
IOSF is one of the world’s leading otter charities. In the UK IOSF is the only charity solely dedicated to the conservation, protection and care of otters based on years of scientific research in the UK and around the world.
The Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance
The Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance (FCCA) aims to protect functioning floodplains and coastal ecosystems in South and Southeast Asia. This will secure wild fishing cat populations and all species with which also live within the ecosystems.
All money raised at our fundraising events will go directly to our five charities. Without the support of people just like you, they would not be able to carry out the vital conservation work that they do. To find out more about each of the charities we fundraise for click on their logo’s below.
Although we support our five charities, this doesn’t stop us from fundraising for others too!
In November 2022, keepers joined no-shave November to fundraise for Medical Detection Dogs. This is a charity that trains dogs to sniff out life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and COVID-19.
We have also participated in Coffee Morning founded by Macmillan Cancer Support. These mornings aim to bring people together to share food and drink, whilst also raising money to support people living with cancer.
