Help the Knights of Saint Columba to Help Colchester Zoo

At this difficult time we know that many businesses and charities are struggling. In Colchester we have a world class Zoological park. It works really hard caring for God's Creatures, and we as an Order are also called to help support, in Charity, those that care for our planet.

The Zoo unfortunately is facing massive issues due to the current Covid-19 situation. Therefore we are raising money to help them out, and ensure their work locally and also through their charitable work over seas in the form of their charity "Action for the Wild".

So please give generously, and also come along (virtually) and take part in our Quiz Night to support this wonderful cause. For more information find us on Facebook

KSC 270 - Colchester Facebook

Colchester Zoo - an Overview:

Home to 220 species set in 60 acres of parkland and lakes!

At Colchester Zoo you’ll visit many different habitats, from the humid home of our Komodo Dragons to our very own Africa plain, Kingdom of the Wild, home to white rhino, giraffes, ostrich, zebra and kudu. They also run a number of successful beeding programs that have led to Tiger cubs, Leopard cubs and even a baby Rhino!

Colch­ester Zoo was first opened in June 1963. It was called Stan­way Hall Zoo Park and was owned by two zool­o­gists called Frank and Helena Far­rar. The Zoo was very small just 10 hectare and had a very small col­lec­tion of ani­mals rang­ing from Big cats to Kan­ga­roos. It was soon renamed Colch­ester Zoo. It was a con­ser­va­tion cen­tre then as it is now. Colch­ester Zoo was taken over in 1983 by the cur­rent own­ers (Angela and Dominique Tro­peano) who run the zoo as a fam­ily busi­ness and a pri­vate lim­ited com­pany (Colch­ester Zoo Ltd). They mod­ernised the Zoo into a pros­per­ing and renowned facil­ity. At that time the zoo received around 100,000 vis­i­tors a year. The zoo was a tight team with just 5 keep­ers and 5 other part time staff!, man­ag­ing 500 ani­mals. The zoo grounds over the last 37 years have increased from 10 to over 24 hectare. It employs now over 250 staff and have over 500,000 vis­i­tors a year.

Colchester Zoo

Who are the Knights of Saint Columba?

The Knights of Saint Columba are a Catholic Fraternity dedicated to three core concepts - Charity, Unity and Fraternity. We work across the UK to help local and national charities, feed the homeless, visit the sick and support the ongoing work of our parishes and the church as a whole. We also raise money for a variety of good causes. We have been around for over 100 years, and continue to support local causes and our local communities.

Some of the recent charities we in Colchester have supported include:

The Night Shelter, East Anglia Children's Hospice, Bishop's Ecclesiastical Education Fund, Colchester Foodbank, GO4 Cafe - Emergency Foodbank, CAFOD

For more information please visit:

Knights of Saint Columba

What is Action for the Wild?

Colchester Zoo has always cared passionately about the world's threatened species, and created its charity Action for the Wild to assist projects worldwide.

It provides both financial and technical assistance, and aims to raise awareness among local people in community conservation programmes, as well as supporting conservation research.

Since 2004, when Action for the Wild achieved charitable status, over £2 million has been donated to a broad spectrum of conservation projects worldwide, and encompasses a wide range of species from orangutans to vultures, hornbills to Komodo dragons and elephants to moths.

Action for the Wild