Kids Planet/Kids Allowed Nurseries raise over £20,000 to support Chester Zoo

To support Chester Zoo, quality childcare provider Kids Planet (which now includes Kids Allowed) has been raising thousands of pounds to support one of the UK’s number one family attractions, due to its significant losses since Covid-19 and its drastic restrictions on visitors for the foreseeable future.

Initially, the children, staff and parents at the 52 nurseries were hoping to raise £2,000 to help. However, thanks to the engagement 2,000 staff, 7,000 children (aged two to five) and their families – all willing to complete a collective 1700 miles (the sum total of all 52 nursery’s individual mileage to Chester Zoo) by walking, hopping, jumping or leaping over and above this mileage, the bar was raised to £20,000.

Remarkably, the team at Kids Planet have raised over £20k and are now in their second phase of their campaign - their adoption phase – and would love your help.

During the month of October Kids Planet has teamed up with One Poll to find out the favourite zoo animal of children aged 3-5 and their reasons why.  Kids Planet and Chester Zoo would like to know. Therefore, if you have a child, grandchild or friend with a child under 5, please could you complete the following questionnaire by Friday, 30^th October. It’s a simple one click answer to just two questions.

Kids Planet CEO Clare Roberts commented:

“It’s been a tough year for our families and our staff, as well as Chester Zoo. The Summer Stampede campaign has given us a subliminal focus on something that is really important to us, but not always on our minds every day, even though it should be.

I am so thrilled to see how quickly we surpassed our targets and want to say a huge well done to our staff, children and their families for such a successful combined effort throughout this campaign.

We know how much Chester Zoo means to us our staff and families and this is evident in their actions.

Our name, Kids Planet, reminds us all that children are the most important considerations when we look at the impacts, good and bad, on our world today. The animal kingdom and their survival, or threatened extinction, can teach all of us a thing or two about sustainability and environmental responsibilities. We also believe children should learn the importance of giving and experience the wonderful feelings that it can instil to do something for the good of others. But overall, we encourage learning through play and what better way to encourage our children to take an interest in the world around them.

During phase two of Kids Planet Summer Stampede fundraising campaign – the adoption phase – the children will be learning about inclusivity and compassion as they choose the animals they want to adopt and support throughout this pandemic and beyond.

For those families with children under 5 that would like to get involved please download the following questionnaire which is a simple two question tick box requiring less than 30 seconds of your time:

http://www.research365.net/survey/private/78743454b9325da66bbd1dfa49bc7907a08ca06f

To find out more about the Kids Planet team please contact them via Facebook and Twitter. To find out more details about the Kids Planet nurseries in your area you can visit the Kids Planet website.

Kids Planet was founded in 2008 by John Hoban and his daughter, Clare Roberts, after Clare was unable to find the quality of childcare she wanted for her own children and the flexibility around her work.  Clare’s sister (John’s other daughter) Lucy Kaczmarska is a trained early years and primary school teacher and joined the family business as Childcare Director in 2013.

Kids Planet is the number one childcare provider for quality in the UK and, with its current number of nursery settings standing at 52 (including 12 Kids Allowed nurseries which were acquired in January 2020), it is also the third largest group in the UK.

The business currently provides quality childcare for 7,000 children and employs 2,000 childcare staff across the settings and a further 65 at head office in Lymm, Warrington.

Whilst the company is largely based in the North West and the Midlands it has plans to extend its quality offering across the UK and overseas in the near future.

Pictured - Clare Roberts and Hannah Mooney