centre activities
sai organisation
centre activities
Events 2005 - Global Service Day on
Sunday 24 July at Twycross Zoo.
Sunday started off well - cloudy but dry, and reasonably warm - as we set off in cars, coach,
mini-buses & ambulances to Twycross Zoo from 10:00 onwards. The coach left Soar Valley
College straight after Bhajans.
Some volunteers set-off early to set up the site for the day - gazebos, tables & chairs. The staff at the zoo had thoughtfully put up road signs for us to follow to the correct car park (as there are several entrances & car parks at the zoo). And we all began to arrive at our designated place - Napier Centre - reserved for us at the zoo from 10:45 onwards. There were some 20 guests in wheel-chairs who had to be helped by the volunteers from the coach park to the Napier Centre.
Refreshments were served - tea, coffee, cookies & gathias. All very welcome as some of our guests had left quite early as we had arranged for them to be collected from home.
....and it started to rain as the instructions were handed out to the volunteers. Light at first, then heavy. No problem - volunteers set-off with their guests to view the animals in the zoo. Kim Riley provided some instructions on some of the interesting things to see in the zoo, for example new born baby animals. And some of the other volunteers started to prepare for lunch.
....and it carried on raining. Lunch arrangements had to be made indoors instead of an outdoor 'picnic'. The 'shak' was warmed up and fresh chips were fried. The refreshments were a welcoming sight for the soaking wet guests and volunteers, as they trouped back to Napier Centre for lunch. Hot chips were everyone's favourite, specially as they were freshly fried. And there was salad, sandwiches & rice as well. And fresh fruit salad to finish the meal! All volunteers worked so hard in quite difficult conditions, with smiles on their faces. And they were rewarded by smiles from the guests.
....and the rain continued. We had arranged to view the elephants training session, and then as a special treat, we had arranged for 3 of our guests to go in the elephant enclosure to feed the elephants! Ruhi & her Mum, plus Ronnie agreed to go in. And the look of joy on Ruhi's face, when she was able to touch the elephant's trunk, will stay with most of us for the rest of our lives. Ruhi enjoyed the experience so much that everyone forgot about the rain!
....and as the rain slowed down a bit, most of the volunteers & guest went off to see some of the others displays - e.g. sea lion & penguin feeding and 'Punch & Judy' show. There were also lots of other animals to see - one boy's highlight was to see the lions! And then some of the volunteers made preparations for afternoon tea.
....and as the rain started to fall heavily, two of the gazebos flew away! There was no time to put them up again so they were quickly packed away and loaded on to the van. So now we all had to fit into the Napier Centre.
....and they all came back in the rain, very wet! To a refreshing cup of tea and cookies. And we had karaoke session which was enjoyed by everyone. It was good to see so many come forward to 'entertain' us! Ronnie made a 'thank you' speech for a wonderful day - everyone agreed that despite the rain, they all had a wonderful day and were already looking forward the the next trip.
....and it was still raining when we left Twycross Zoo around 4:30. It was so good to see so many happy faces, and so many commented that they had had a good day despite the weather. And the guests thanked us all for looking after them and caring for them throughout the day.
Photographs (to be added) from the event shown below - click on the photograph to view enlarged size
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