Volunteers play an essential role in supporting the zoo to achieve our Conservation Masterplan goals.
We engage with up to 250 generous volunteers EVERY YEAR through various roles and programmes. They provide thousands of unpaid hours and a wealth of skills and experience to support our work.
Our volunteers are advocates for wildlife and are devoted to conservation. They engage with visitors through UNIQUE educational experiences and FANTASTIC customer service. Volunteers also help connect visitors with nature and empower them to Act for Wildlife through living more sustainably.
We’re working to develop a programme of community volunteering. Volunteers benefit from comprehensive training and induction tailored to their roles. We want to support all our volunteers as much as possible so they feel confident and knowledgeable when engaging with our visitors and members. Our research reveals the positive self-reported impacts of volunteering in zoological collections.
Our voluntary programme offers opportunities to meet new people, work on new challenges and help others as well as enhance your wellbeing and gain skills for self-development. And most of all, have FUN!
Our volunteers are primarily involved in customer service, community and education roles. Please note, we don’t offer any animal section volunteer roles.
Is this the RIGHT opportunity for YOU?
Community Hub
Find out how you can ACT FOR WILDLIFE from home or in your community by exploring our Community Hub. Read other’s conservation and wildlife stories, or why not share your own experiences?! Encourage others to join the fight in preventing extinction!
Hedgehog Watch
Would you like to get involved in an EXCITING Citizen Science project all about our LOCAL garden wildlife?
We’re looking for volunteers to participate in Chester Zoo’s Hedgehog Watch! Let’s work together to protect hedgehogs and other UK wildlife! Find out how you can take part here.
We work with up to 250 volunteers every year, here’s what they say about their volunteering experiences:
“Chester Zoo’s volunteer induction programme is absolutely amazing – interesting, informative, fun, and far more thorough and helpful than any induction I’ve ever been offered elsewhere.”
“The zoo is a wonderful place to volunteer. The animals are endlessly fascinating, the grounds are beautiful, the other volunteers and staff are welcoming and appreciative, and by championing conservation and helping visitors enjoy their day out you really feel you’re making a positive difference to the world.”
“If you want to improve or uplift your confidence, whether able or less able, and meet some amazing friends then volunteering at Chester Zoo is for you. You will be supported by an amazing volunteering team. Exercise is a bonus you will enjoy.”
NOW is the time to ACT FOR WILDLIFE. Conservation is CRITICAL; species are under threat. TOGETHER we can make a BIG difference. Take action TODAY and join us in PREVENTING EXTINCTION.