FCPD Dino

Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

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WE NEED YOUR HELP! Building Bridges to the Dinosaurs

15 November 2018

Pubic footbridge

Do you want to get up close and personal with Crystal Palace’s iconic Dinosaurs? Help us BUILD A BRIDGE so we can run tours, volunteer opportunities, school trips & more to our unique Dino Island! Pledge today right here.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended Dino Days on 15-16th September. We had an amazing time and we hope you did too. More than 200 people toured Dino Island, getting up close and personal with the Dinosaurs on the world’s first ‘Jurassic Park’. Our intrepid tour guides were on hand to explain the science, history and conservation behind the sculptures - and to rescue any unwary visitors who strayed too close to the ‘Terrible Lizards’!

We’d like to be able to do events like this more often – and 95% of visitors told us in a recent survey that they would like a tour of the island, too.

Currently, however, this isn’t easy. At the moment we have to arrange a temporary bridge, which is inconvenient, expensive and ugly every time we want access to the Island.

A new, permanent bridge would allow us to run tours for around 1200 people per year, helping to build love of the Dinosaurs, natural history and the history of the local area. Building a physical bridge to the Island will mean we can build imaginative bridges to the past.

It will enable us to run more opportunities for the general public, schools and volunteers to get up close and personal with the Dinosaurs, and will enable other local groups to do so, too. We will also be able to access the dinosaurs more easily for vital conservation work of the sculptures and maintenance of the island - helping to conserve the Dinosaurs for the long term.

We have had an extraordinary offer from architectural practice Tonkin Liu to deliver a pro bono design for a bridge to the Dinosaur Islands. This practice is known for its innovative pedestrian bridges, lightweight constructions, and sensitive designs. Their work has been featured in numerous urban landscapes, RIBA and the Royal Academy. With Tonkin Liu, our aim is that the new bridge will be practical, elegant and a fitting addition to this beautiful landscape.

We are crowdfunding to get the funds needed to build our bridge. If you would like to help, please pledge today at www.spacehive.com/bridges-to-the-crystal-palace-dinosaurs - where you can also find out more about the project. Pledges can be any amount from £2 upwards – and if we get enough backing from the local community, the Mayor of London may also put money towards it through his Crowdfund London initiative. 

You can also help by encouraging your friends to get involved, and by sharing this link via Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for your help!

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