Wow! Gorillas a new life - the gorillas are back. 14/12/11

No one in Bristol can have failed to spot the Wow Gorillas last summer. In July 2011 61 multi-coloured and life-sized gorillas sprang up in the streets and parks of Bristol with the challenge to track them all down! The gorilla trail was an amazing success and Bristolians took the gorillas to their hearts, with the internet and social networking sites swamped with photos, blogs and tweets ever since!

The project was organised by Bristol Zoo and, in September 2011 the gorillas were sold at auction, raising a massive £427,300 for charity - shared between vital gorilla conservation work and Bristol Children’s Hospital’s Wallace Appeal. Since the auction everyone has been asking – “Where have the gorillas gone?” and “Will we ever see them again”? Some are on public display but most seem to have disappeared!

Wow Gorillas – A New Life! is an initiative by over half of the 61 gorilla owners to make their gorillas available, on an occasional basis, for charity and community events in and around Bristol. Our aim is to for the gorillas to have a “New Life”, bringing continuing pleasure to the people of Bristol and beyond, with the explicit aim of raising more money for charity, including the two founding charities.

Wow Gorillas – A New Life! is the brainchild of local businessman Tim Baines, lucky owner of one of the favourite gorillas – Blackbeardorilla. Says Tim “The Wow gorillas project was such a success that I thought it would be a shame if the gorillas just retired. So I decided to try and give them a new life, as working gorillas – raising money for charity!”

Tim continued “I wrote to Bristol Zoo and asked them to send a letter from me to each owner, seeing if they shared my views. I am absolutely delighted that 33 gorillas have now agreed to join in”. (A list of the participating gorillas is on the last page of this press release).

Wow Gorillas – A New Life is being launched on Friday 16 December at 12 noon at St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Ellfield Close, Bishopsworth, Bristol BS13 8EF. Blackbeardorilla will be there, together with his zoo- keeper Tim Baines, Chris Taylor his maker and all the excited children of St Peter’s on their last day before they break up for Christmas! Tim and Chris will be available to discuss why they are doing this and what they hope to achieve.

Tim says “We now want to hear from charities, with their ideas as to how the gorillas can help their event raise money. Charity organisers should go the website of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, click on the Wow Gorillas link and they will see details of which gorillas are joining in and a form which they can complete. We can’t promise that a gorilla will come to your event but the earlier you let us know and the more charitable (and fun!) the event the more likely it is that you will hear from us!”

Bristol Zoo’s Head of Marketing and Development, Owain Cassidy, said: “Wow! Gorillas was a fantastic success in celebration of the Zoo’s 175^th birthday this year. It brought Bristol together in a city-wide celebration”. He added “It’s great that the gorillas have been given a new lease of life by their new owners, and I am sure they will continue to bring a smile to many more people as they are enjoyed in future.”

St Peter’s Bishopsworth School’s head teacher Livvy Sinclair-Gieben is proud to host the launch event. She sees similarities between the initiative and her school. “St Peter’s had a fresh start 3 years ago when two predecessor schools came together, and we are now a school with lots of new life and ideas just like the gorilla project”.

Tim hopes that other owners will also join in. “Come and join the fun” says Tim “contact me via the website”.

Tim’s eventual long-term aim is that the gorillas will help raise the same amount of money for charity in their new life as they did in their previous one – i.e. over £400,000! Says Tim “It’s ambitious, but these Gorillas won’t die and may even outlast their owners, so who knows!”

The Wow Gorillas are back!

For more information please contact:

Tim Baines 07771 547229 or at St Peter’s Bishopsworth Junior School at 12 noon on 16 December 2011

Participating gorillas in “Wow Gorillas – A New Life”

As at 14 December 2011