Remembering Julie

Peter Killen chose to support us in memory of his late wife, Julie. Here he tells us why ZSL means so much to him.

We lived in Eaton Bray and could see Whipsnade Zoo from our house.  We both had memberships so when our son, Nathan, was a baby and just wouldn't settle, we would take him in his pram and just walk around the zoo until he fell asleep.

When Nathan was a toddler, the zoo was a great place to go to as a family, and there is a lovely photo of Julie and Nathan there when he was two years old. Some of Julie's happiest and most precious memories were of our family trips to the zoo when Nathan was a child.

When Nathan was about seven or eight years old he got into karate and our visits to the zoo dwindled, so we gave up our memberships for quite a few years.

About seven years ago when I was coming up to retirement, we started to go to the zoo again and we renewed our memberships.  It's a beautiful place to go and visit, and have a cup of tea and a price of cake at the Viewpoint, overlooking the white rhinos on one side, and the Downs on the other.

After Covid when it first re-opened, it was a great place to go, to get out of the house. Whipsnade was very special to us, and when Julie's health took a turn for the worse, she let me know that she would like to have her ashes scattered there.

Towards the end of her life, Julie was cared for at the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted. They were wonderful and couldn't do enough for their patients.

When Julie arrived at the hospice in February 2023, she was initially unable to leave her room, but as she became stronger, it became her wish to visit the zoo once more.  One Friday, Ray (Head of Spiritual Care) said to Julie, 'I'm going to take you to the zoo on Monday'.  She could hardly believe it, but the wellbeing team at the hospice worked to make it happen, and Ray drove the ambulance himself.

Julie's favourite animals were the short-clawed otters, so we made sure to take her to see them, and we also saw the elephants and giraffes (although we only saw one giraffe's head poking out, as it was a cold day). Getting out made such a difference to Julie, she said at the time that it was 'absolutely fantastic'.

Julie had asked me to scatter her ashes at Whipsnade because it was so special to us, so when the time came, Nathan and I went to the Zoo on what would have been Julie's birthday, and scattered her ashes on the slopes near the Viewpoint, overlooking Eaton Bray. Nathan and I were able to take some private time while we scattered Julie's ashes in the place she loved so much.

I still enjoy visiting Whipsnade and having a coffee at the Viewpoint. I feel close to Julie while I'm there, and it's wonderful to sit and look out across the valley on a sunny day.

Because Whipsnade has been such a special place to our family, I wanted to support them in Julie's memory. I wanted to support their work in conservation, and the goal of returning animals to the wild. I was delighted to donate to Whipsnade for the Ash Scattering, because it's such a worthwhile cause, and I didn't think twice about it.