Bristol’s Wildwalk is due to close in April, due to lack of funding. It would be a terrible loss if this unique regional attraction and valuable educational resource was allowed to disappear. In a couple of weeks, the legal period of consultation at Wildwalk will be up, and the decision may be irreversible. We must act now, to stop the closure of Wildwalk before it’s too late…
The aims of this site
The purpose of this site is to demonstrate to those with the power to make decisions and provide funding—i.e. the Board of Wildwalk, Bristol City Council, the South West Regional Development Agency and National Government, along with any other potential benefactors and other sources of funding—what a much loved and valued asset Wildwalk really is.
Save Wildwalk is launching this campaign to raise the profile of Wildwalk, and the plight of its proposed closure, in local and national media and to gather a large amount of public support in one place.
We also appeal to any potential benefactors who might consider donating some funds to keep Wildwalk going, at least in the short term, to give the Government enough time to consider how they could fund Wildwalk in the long term, and make the necessary amendments to the law.
As you are looking at this site, you probably already care about Wildwalk, and don’t want to see it disappear, so firstly, this site give several suggestions of things you can do – sign our ePetition, write to your MP or your local Councillors , and more – see So what can I do to help?
Sign our ePetition
The more people that sign our ePetition – the better media exposure we can get, and the more media exposure, the more likely National Government is to take notice of and act on our request. So get signing, and tell all your friends, family and colleagues to do the same! If you are a parent or teacher, or know any children who care about Wildwalk, children can sign too! There’s no age limit for signing a petition; all they will need is a valid email address.
Please note, you will need to confirm your signature; you’ll receive an email from epetitions.net, and you will need to click on the link in the email to verify that you have given an authentic email address. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose.
Write to your MP or Councillor
The more people who write to their MPs and Councillors, the more likely this is to be taken seriously by Bristol City Council, the South West RDA and the Government, so please take five minutes to do so if you can. We have made it as easy as possible for you by providing an email that you can cut and paste, which you will find on the So what can I do to help? page, and if you live in the Bristol area, a list of all the Councillors and MPs, and their email addresses.
Focus on funding Wildwalk
The IMAX is also due to close which is also a great shame, but this campaign’s focus is on saving Wildwalk, as it is a unique facility and a valuable asset to Bristol, in terms of both education and tourism, and one which should not be allowed to disappear. Save Wildwalk believes that there is more scope for petitioning the Government for funding this particular attraction than the IMAX.
There is currently another ePetition being circulated, at http://bristol.epetitions.net to save Wildwalk and the IMAX, which you may also like to sign. That petition is asking that ‘the city council should step in with the necessary funding to save this very important attraction’. However, from the research that Save Wildwalk has undertaken, it seems clear that asking Bristol City Council for continuing funds to save it is not a long term practical solution—see the current situation for the reasons why.
Campaign proposal
Therefore, Save Wildwalk’s proposal is that if funds can be found (and one would hope that Bristol City Council and the South West Regional Development Agency would consider one more payment in a final effort to save this important and popular local landmark), and the board of Wildwalk would consider keeping Wildwalk open for a few more months, a significant level of public support could be gathered, along with media attention, to petition National Government for continuing support of this unique facility, as well as to appeal to other potential benefactors and sources of funding. So please, sign our ePetition, write to your Councillors and MPs, and do any of our other suggestions that you will find in the next section, So what can I do to help?
Save Wildwalk is convinced that with enough public support and media exposure, backed up with support from the Council and the South West Regional Development Agency, something can be done to protect these important assets to the city—for residents, schoolchildren and tourists alike, and hopefully for many decades to come…
What people are saying…
Commenting is closed for this article.
We’d be very interested to know how often people visit, and what might make them visit more often. Save Wildwalk already has some ideas on this – see ‘What else might help?’ but we would like to know which issues are the most important to people, and if you have any other suggestions which we may not have thought of…
— Carolyn · Feb 21, 19:45 · #
What importance are we giving to environmental education if we allow a resource like Wildwalk close?
— Glenn Vowles · Feb 23, 14:42 · #
It is ridiculous to close Wildwalk and the Imax when so much of our public funding has already been spent to set it up.
— Dee Jarlett · Feb 25, 14:10 · #
Our Grandchildren have gained so much pleasure and knowledge from Wild Walk and the Imax. How ridiculous to waste this valuable resource
— Derek and Jill Godwin · Feb 26, 09:54 · #
I TOTALLY AGREE THAT AS A MOTHER WHO IS AT HOME OFTEN AND WOULD REGUARLY VISIT WITH MY CHILD (AS WE DO THE ZOO) ETC. £14 FOR A VISIT FOR JUST THE TWO OF US IS WAY TOO EXPENSIVE TO WARRANT GOING TIME AND TIME AGAIN. IF IT WERE CHEAPER WE WOULD VISIT OFTEN AS I’M SURE WOULD OTHER FAMILIES – I HAVE VISITED AND FOUND IT EXCELLENT.
— GINETTE HERDO · Feb 26, 11:33 · #
It was a great shock to hear about closure of Wild Walk. I went there with Japanese school as aschool trip, and the children enjoyed the wild walk most. It is a real shame if we are going to lose it.
— Rihae Yuh · Feb 26, 13:39 · #