Glass Art Sales to Benefit Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts Aquarium

By Phip Knowling

Paignton, UK - Two big South West names have joined forces to produce enterprising new products.

The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust is launching an exclusive limited-edition fundraising package featuring glass animals hand-made by Teign Valley Glass at House of Marbles, Bovey Tracey in Devon.

Initially, there will be 12 solid glass rhinos sold on behalf of Paignton Zoo and 12 penguins for Paignton’s sister zoo, Living Coasts, in Torquay.

Pippa Craddock, the Zoo’s Director of Marketing and Development, explained: “As a registered charity we are always looking for innovative ways to raise funds. Animal and plant adoptions are popular gifts. As well as the basic adoption, we offer a gift pack which contains a cuddly toy – this new package offers a different option again, with a high-quality hand-made glass animal figure.”

The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, as well as two Local Nature Reserves and one National Nature Reserve. It spends around a quarter of a million pounds a year on conservation work in the UK and overseas.

Paignton Zoo has a food bill of £200,000 per year - its weekly shopping list includes 300 lettuces, 20 crates of bread and hay by the tonne. Then there’s veterinary care, heating costs and cleaning. Pippa: “The care of animals is a very worthwhile but a very expensive activity!”

Andrea Harkin, Marketing Manager from Teign Valley Glass, said: “Here are two local businesses looking for new ways to work together and support each other. We are combining the creativity of Teign Valley Glass with the conservation credentials of Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts. Our glassmakers love to design new products, they really enjoyed developing the rhino – we are very pleased with the result.”

The two are also launching a special memorial paperweight promotion. Teign Valley Glass make memorial paperweights containing the ashes of both people and pets. The new promotion will offer a 10% discount on these, with Teign Valley making a charitable donation to the Zoo for each sale.

Andrea: “The demand for memorial products has grown just in the last year. We produce tasteful glass paperweights containing ashes – they are beautiful and unique. People want to remember their loved ones in a special way. These pieces can be placed indoors or out, they are timeless. We can even incorporate important colours or significant patterns to make them truly individual.”

Pippa again: “Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts get a lot of requests from people who want to place memorial benches or scatter ashes in the grounds. A memorial paperweight is a wonderful and lasting way to remember a loved one and help the Zoo at the same time.”

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park is a registered charity. For more information go to www.paigntonzoo.org.uk or ring 0844 474 2222.

To view Paignton Zoo's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor News, go to:  http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-783-Paignton_Zoo_Environmental_Park