Wildlife park founder to receive medal of 'honour' at the Palace of Westminister

The founder of a wildlife park near Boston, who has dedicated 30 years to helping exotic animals, is to receive a top award in London.
By Gemma Gadd
Published 11th Jan 2023, 10:59 BST
Updated 11th Jan 2023, 11:11 BST
Steve Nichols, founder of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park, will receive a British Citizens Award at the House of Lords later this month.Steve Nichols, founder of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park, will receive a British Citizens Award at the House of Lords later this month.
Steve Nichols, founder of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park, will receive a British Citizens Award at the House of Lords later this month.

Steve Nichols, of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in Friskney, will be given a British Citizens Award (BCA) at the House of Lords on January 26 in the Volunteering and Charitable Giving category.

Dubbed the ‘People’s Honour’, Steve will be one of just 29 people across the UK to receive a BCA medal at the Palace of Westminister.

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A spokesperson for the BCAs said: “This programme recognises true community heroes for their divergent endeavours and positive impact on society.”

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Speaking about Steve’s work, they said: “Having founded a charity in the early ‘90s with the aim to both assist local parrot owners and their pets along with taking rescued parrots to see sick and terminally children, Steve Nichols has relentlessly continued with this mission and dedicated the last 30 years of his life to doing just that.

“Uprooting his family from their Sheffield home in 1999 he relocated to the Lincolnshire countryside with the intentions of creating The National Parrot Sanctuary, a unique safe haven for these amazing birds set in tranquil landscaped gardens that their owners and the sick children could visit, aptly titled, The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park.

“Steve wasn’t happy with just helping these groups and encouraged the charity to increase and diversify into assisting a vast array of animals, all that were owned privately and could no longer be cared for, including the largest collection of Bengal Tigers in the UK.

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"Under the continued guidance of Steve, the trustees and dedicated staff at the park now care for over 1500 animals and between them have created a unique facility that provides a therapeutic value to many areas within the mental health sector and are used regularly as a form of social prescribing.”

The British Citizen Award, in partnership with One Stop, is now in its ninth year and recognises exceptional individuals who positively impact their communities throughout the country.

The Medal presentation will be hosted by TV presenter and BCA Patron, Nick Knowles.

Related topics:LondonBCA