A very special evening at Cotswold Wildlife Park

Cotswold Wildlife Park quietly opened its doors for a very special evening.

For the ninth time, the Park hosted Dreamnight At The Zoo, an invitation-only event for chronically ill and disabled children and their families to exclusively enjoy the wildlife park after hours. 

Cotswold Wildlife Park joined over 200 zoos and aquariums from 11 different countries for the global event that makes dreams come true for some truly deserving guests.

A total of 80 families were invited from Oxfordshire charity Helen & Douglas House (providing hospice care for terminally ill children and young adults), Rainbow Trust (supporting families with a seriously ill child), ROSY (Respite Nursing for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters), CALM (Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Movement), James Hopkins Trust (providing nursing respite care for Gloucestershire’s life limited and life threatened young children) and WellChild (giving seriously ill children the best chance to thrive). 

As well as the rare opportunity to see the animals at night when the park is normally closed to visitors, keepers and staff volunteered to make the evening one to remember with some unforgettable animal encounters with the lemurs, giraffes and Penguins. 

The night of activities continued with train rides on the park’s narrow-gauge railway, refreshments, herb planting with the park’s gardeners, games and the chance to meet beautiful birds of prey from Cotswold Falconry Centre.

Dreamnight At The Zoo was the brainchild of zoo keeper Peter van der Wulp, who in 1996 went to the Director of Rotterdam Zoo with a special request. His dream was to organise a free evening out at the zoo exclusively for children with cancer. 

Peter wanted it to be a joyous night for the whole family to enjoy and relax, without the worry of being treated differently. Dreamnight At The Zoo has since become an annual worldwide event which Cotswold Wildlife Park is honoured to be part of.

Richard Crowley, Chairman of the Swindon-based CALM Charity said:  "Our families were delighted to be invited to the special Dreamnight at the Zoo event and were made to feel like VIPs. 

"Children with cancer often miss out on taking part in activities that other children take for granted. It was a magical evening with a chance to get closer to the animals and meet the amazing keepers who look after them too. 

"Highlights included feeding the Giraffes and getting up close with the Lemurs.  A huge thank you to all the team at the Cotswold Wildlife Park for inviting us and making us feel so welcome".

Helen Hitchman, event organiser and Education and Activities Manager at Cotswold Wildlife Park, said: “It’s always an absolute pleasure to host this special evening for the incredible children and their families. 

“Dreamnight At The Zoo is a highlight of the year at Cotswold Wildlife Park. Staff and our volunteers give up their time generously to make sure everyone has a wonderful time. A special thanks to Cotswold Falconry Centre for supporting us year after year.

"The games, animal talks, planting, train rides and all the other activities make the evening so special. Seeing all the smiling faces around the Park makes everything worthwhile and everyone involved is so elated at being able to create such a fun night. 

"A special thank you must go to the charities for all the wonderful work they do and for making sure as many families as possible can attend Dreamnight At The Zoo.”