We’re SO excited to welcome our first EVER Youth Board at Chester Zoo. This dynamic group of young people from a multitude of backgrounds, are on a mission to empower young people to take action for wildlife.
What’s your role on the Youth Board?
Hi I’m Beth, and I’m a Volunteer liaison and a member of the Diversity and Inclusion committee within the Youth Board- specifically focusing on accessibility.
What does the zoo mean to you?
Chester Zoo means everything to me. I have always been proud to live locally, call the Zoo my “own” and, even when I was just a visitor, tell people all about their incredible conservation work and outstanding animal husbandry. I think it’s the best Zoo in the UK by far, and have many fond memories of it new and old. I am excited to see where Chester Zoo goes next in the Zoo’s ever ambitious plans and hopefully get to be a tiny part of that, too.
How have you supported the zoo, whether that be recently or over a longer time period?
Among many other projects we are working on behind the scenes, is that during the start of our term early last year, we helped to raise over £1,900 during the Save Our Zoo campaign with a “Chester Zoo Youth Board Fundraiser”, during which many of us took on a series of challenges. My contribution was a 30 day Art Fundraiser- 30 completed pieces of digital art in 30 days. I ended up successfully completing this challenge with 31 designs in 30 days. These designs have in the months since helped me to raise over £400 for the Zoo directly, (separately from the fundraiser) with my artwork and other zoo related art I had already done on stickers, posters, mugs, colouring sheets, T-shirt’s and more. Aside from the Youth Board, I have been a Volunteer for a few years now, as well as a member, having adopted a few of the Zoo’s animals too.
What do you hope to achieve in your role on the Chester Zoo Youth Board?
My hope for my time on the Youth Board is that I can make an impact on Conservation and support Chester Zoo in their mission to Prevent Extinction. I hope to help promote Diversity and Inclusion in every aspect of the zoo and build bridges to allow accessibility to the conservation sector for everyone.
What have you got out of being a part of the Youth Board so far?
In my term so far I have gained confidence, created firm connections, and had the ability to actually make a difference. The Youth Board has also given me the opportunity to learn a great deal more about the inner workings of the Zoo as a whole.
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.
OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS WORK IN SIX REGIONS AROUND THE GLOBE – REPRESENTING SOME OF THE PLANET’S MOST BIODIVERSE HABITATS. Discover more about our SCIENCE AND CONSERVATION work.