Silver for Ark For All

Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm has been recognised for their work in Education at the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) annual awards ceremony.

The winners of this year’s prestigious competition were announced at a special gala dinner event hosted by Drayton Manor Theme Park on Thursday 13 June. Amongst the winners Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm was recognised for their contributions to Education with their work for the Ark For All Accessiblity project, opened last year by Paralympian Andy Lewis MBE.

The aim of the ‘Ark for All’ project is for Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm to be accessible to all visitors regardless of physical ability or any additional needs. The first stage of this project was to construct a changing places toilet to enable all visitors to visit Noah’s Ark. In addition an accessible play area was constructed complete with a wheelchair accessible roundabout. However, Noah’s Ark went beyond thinking of visible disabilities by also improving access to animal information. Traditionally this has been aimed at adults but through feedback from visitors Noah’s Ark installed child and autism friendly signs complete with pictoral sentences. This is just the first stage of the Zoo’s plan to improve the accessibility across the 100 acre site.

Rhian McIntosh, Customer Experience Coordinator said, “We are over the moon that the Ark for All project has been recognised with a silver award from BIAZA for its contribution to Education. Noah’s Ark is an inclusive zoo where we welcome all visitors. We are excited to become more accessible to enable more visitors to have a great day out here at Noah’s Ark!”

Dr Kirsten Pullen, CEO of BIAZA, said, “Our annual awards ceremony recognises excellence in the work being carried out by our zoos and aquariums as well as our associate members. Our community is committed to conservation, education, research, and having the highest levels of animal welfare and this is highlighted by the incredibly high standard of award submissions this year.”