Cotswold Wildlife Park quietly opened its doors for disabled and sick children and their families to visit the animals after hours.

For the ninth time, the Park hosted  Dreamnight At The Zoo, an invitation-only event for chronically ill and disabled children to exclusively enjoy the wildlife park.

The park joined over 200 zoos and aquariums, from 11 different countries, taking part in the global event.

Oxford Mail:

Some 80 families were invited from charity Helen & Douglas House, Rainbow Trust, ROSY, CALM, James Hopkins Trust and WellChild to see the animals at night when the park is normally closed to visitors.

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Keepers and staff volunteers created some unforgettable animal encounters with the lemurs, giraffes and penguins.

The night of activities also included train rides on the park’s narrow-gauge railway, refreshments, herb planting with the park’s gardeners, games and the chance to meet beautiful birds of prey from Cotswold Falconry Centre.

Richard Crowley, chairman of Swindon-based CALM, said:  "Our families were made to feel like VIPs. Children with cancer often miss out on taking part in activities that other children take for granted.

"It was a magical evening with a chance to get closer to the animals and meet the amazing keepers who look after them too."

Sarah Nash, charity manager at James Hopkins Trust, which provides respite care to children with life-threatening or life limiting illnesses, added: "One of our key aims at James Hopkins Trust is to help the families that we support to ‘make magic memories’ and the opportunity for them to attend this event is such an amazing way for them to do just that."