NURSERIES in Warrington will be helping to raise much-needed funds for Chester Zoo by walking a collective 1,700 miles.

Kids Planet nurseries, based at Beamont Community Primary School, Warrington town centre and Great Sankey, are joining with their sister sites across the country to complete the fundraising challenge.

More than 7,000 children, aged two to five, will be collecting sponsorships so they can adopt as many of the zoo's animals as possible.

Kids Planet CEO, Clare Roberts, explained: "We currently have 52 nurseries based in the UK, with many located within easy travelling distance of Chester Zoo.

"It’s an incredibly popular attraction for us, our staff and many of our families.

"Its recent plight, due to lockdown and reduced numbers of visitors, struck a chord with our staff and parents, and so we came up with this idea.

"Since launching earlier this month, we reached our first target for £2,000 in the first ten days, so we’ve set ourselves an ambitious target of £20,000 and extended our fundraising activities across July and August."

Childcare director, Lucy Kaczmarska, added: "As part of our learning through play and child-centred activities, animals feature highly.

"Our 'Summer Stampede' creates so many learning opportunities to support every age and stage of our children’s development, from species, to sounds, to colours, to habitats, to behaviours; the list is endless.

"Also, we wanted to do something that would encourage our children to keep active and enjoy the outdoors.

"Our nursery practitioners have wonderful imaginations and are already pulling out all the stops to ensure the children have a lot of fun along the way."

Anyone is welcome to join in the fundraising efforts.

For more information, or to donate, visit kidsplanetdaynurseries.co.uk/company-news/chester-zoo-summer-stampede.