As one of the largest Further Education Colleges in the East of England, Colchester Institute is proud to be a new corporate sponsor of Colchester Zoological Society (CZS), one of the leading zoo’s in England. CZS is home to more than 150 species and within the arrangement the College has agreed to become the Corporate Animal Supporter of the Ring-Tailed Lemur.
CZS has recently become a conservation charitable trust and is keen to partner with businesses to support its conservation efforts, and this aligns to the College’s own goals of developing further productive partnerships to support delivery of its own strategic plan. The College already works with the Zoo in a number of educational areas, and this sponsorship will support even closer working relations going forward.
Both the College and the Zoo are making strides to become more sustainable. CZS actively promotes sustainability across its operations, with ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, conserve resources, and educate the public on climate action. Since 2021, Colchester Institute has invested over £7m to improve building fabric and install new energy technologies which resulted in a 36% carbon reduction in three years. This shared vision for a greener future and nature preservation strengthens the partnership and reinforces the importance of sustainability in both education and conservation.
Gary Horne MBE, Deputy Chief Executive at Colchester Institute said, “We are thrilled to be supporting such a large and important local employer in this way. As a college focussed on supporting local economic growth, we recognise the importance of external partnerships within the communities we serve, and especially those with shared ambitions. We recognise that we have many shared priorities in relation to the environment and we’re proud to make a positive impact to our communities in any way we can.”
The College has also purchased day passes to be raffled to staff twice per year as part of its staff benefits programme and it intends to support the Zoo in many other ways including fundraising to support their broad spectrum of conservation projects worldwide.
Andy Moore, Director of Science, Education and Training said “We very much welcome the opportunity to strengthen business relationships with the College. We already collaborate in many areas, and we look forward to taking this opportunity to think about what else we can do together in the future.”
(left to right) – Mark Emerson, Vice Principal: Curriculum Innovation and Business Transformation at Colchester Institute, Ali Davies, Deputy Principal at Colchester Institute, Alison Andreas, Principal and Chief Executive at Colchester Institute, Andy Moore, Director of Science, Education and Training at Colchester Zoological Society, Suzanne Bush, Head of Marketing and Communications at Colchester Institute and Gary Horne MBE, Deputy Chief Executive at Colchester Institute.
