New community initiative offers free entry and discounted tickets for under 15’s

The Zoological Society of East Anglia (ZSEA) has launched a community access initiative which aims to reduce cost associated barriers to enable local families to connect with nature this year.

The charity, which inspires many children and adults about animal conservation through its work at its two zoos, Banham Zoological Gardens in Norfolk and Africa Alive Zoological Reserve in Suffolk, is passionate about making its zoos as accessible as possible – particularly during this time of financial hardship for many.

The community access scheme has been created to support families who might find cost a barrier to visiting the zoo this year, whilst also encouraging the younger generation to participate in conservation efforts and safeguard life on our planet.

The initiative will allow more families to visit ZSEA’s zoos by offering 20,000 discounted tickets for children under the age of 15 across select dates from February to July. The charity hopes to be in a position to extend this promotion with a similar initiative from August to December.

In addition, ZSEA will be offering every pupil from Banham Primary School, and Kessingland Church of England Primary School, as well as all home-schooled children within Banham and Kessingland, one free ticket for themselves and an accompanying adult to be used between now and 31 July.

Claudia Roberts, CEO at ZSEA, said: “Children are the future caregivers for our planet and all those that live within it.

“I am delighted that the Zoological Society of East Anglia will be offering 20,000 children from the East of England, from low-income households a greatly reduced entrance fee, so they can continue to enjoy great days out connecting in nature and coming face to face with amazing animals from around the world.

“In addition, we are so grateful to the Banham and Kessingland communities for their unwavering support of our zoos and charity, and would like to show our thanks by offering local primary schoolchildren the chance to visit our zoos for free with an accompanying adult.

“It remains a difficult economic period for us all to navigate through, but I am passionate that conservation education must remain at the forefront of our agenda, and wherever possible, ZSEA must enable this to continue to happen by offering community access schemes such as these.”

Starting this weekend, £5 pre-book only child tickets will be available online only by visiting the Tickets section and selecting Community Initiative Tickets. These tickets will be limited to two child for every one full-paying standard adult, to ensure as many families as possible can take advantage of this offer. The scheme has been designed to help families on low income and ZSEA ask guests to be considerate when purchasing tickets.

Tickets will be distributed shortly to each school/nursery accordingly. Home-school pupils within Banham Village, Norfolk or Kessingland Village, Suffolk are asked to email [email protected] to receive their free child and accompanying adult ticket.

To find out more and book tickets, visit: www.zsea.org/community-access-initiative