As the colourful Shaun the Sheep Sculptures make their way to their new homes after helping Heart of Kent Hospice raise an incredible £265,250 when they were auctioned off for the charity, the hospice can now reveal the results of a survey which show the positive impact the art trail had on visitors, the Maidstone community and the town’s economy.
Feedback from members of the public who downloaded the App, and visitors who completed the survey on the Trail website are phenomenal. Not only was ‘Shaun the Sheep in the Heart of Kent’ a huge success in providing a free fun way for families to enjoy Maidstone and its attractions over the summer but it also helped raise awareness and vital funds for the Hospice.
The recent post trail survey commissioned by Wild in Art shows that the trail was enjoyed by 217,859 visitors – with 84% spending more time in Maidstone because of the trail.
The 9 weeklong art trail had a total economic impact of just over £6.8 million which contributed £2.07 million of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the local economy.
The sculpture trail encouraged more people to get out and enjoy the outdoors and trail goers who used the pedometer within the app walked over 60 million steps and covered over 27,000 miles.
The event highlighted how people enjoyed spending more time out in the fresh air with their friends and family with 80% of respondents saying the trail encouraged them to get outdoors more and 87% said it encouraged them to walk more than usual.
Many Maidstone businesses also benefitted from the art trail with 55% of respondents saying they also went shopping, while 74% said they spent money in food and beverage outlets. 58% also visited museums and other attractions.
Over two thirds of visitors enjoying the trail were from Maidstone, but the event also bought in visitors from further afield including from other areas of Kent, the Southeast and London and from overseas including New Zealand, the US and Europe.
Ann-Marie Kelly, Director of Income Generation, Heart of Kent Hospice said:
“One of our aims was to bring a fun, accessible art trail to Maidstone whilst boosting the local economy and helping to discover the history and heritage of Maidstone.
We’re delighted that 97% of local residents were really proud to have the trail taking place in their town. In addition to this 87% of respondents said the trail created a sense of community which is so important to all of us at the hospice.
The feedback we received from everyone involved has been overwhelmingly positive and the trail was clearly the highlight of a lot of people’s Summers in Maidstone. I would like to personally thank everyone involved and for the kindness and support we have received throughout.”
Charlie Langhorne, Managing Director and Co-founder at Wild in Art said:
“We were thrilled to see the figures from the evaluation, along with the incredible amount raised at the auction.
Our trails are designed to get the public to explore their local area, visit places they might not have been to before whilst spending time together, getting some exercise and having fun.
Thank you to everyone who visited the trail over the summer and supported Heart of Kent Hospice.”
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About Heart of Kent Hospice
Heart of Kent Hospice has been providing free, compassionate, end-of-life care to people living with a terminal illness and their loved ones in Maidstone, Aylesford, Tonbridge and Malling and the surrounding towns and villages for the past 33 years.
The Hospice has built an excellent reputation within the local community for the quality of its care, which has been further endorsed by the Care Quality Commission who awarded us with an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ following an inspection in February 2017.
Our vision is for everyone living with a terminal illness in our community to achieve the best quality of life. We are committed to achieving this by enabling them to live in comfort, with independence and dignity to the end of their lives, and to support those closest to them.
Last year the Hospice cared for over 2,000 patients and their families in their own homes or at our Aylesford-based Hospice. Our charity needs to raise £6 million to deliver all the Hospices services, and we depend heavily on our loyal community of supporters, whose generous donations and fundraising activities raise money for us every year.
For regular news and updates relating to the Hospice, please follow us on social media:
About Wild in Art
Wild in Art is the leading producer of spectacular public art events that entertain, enrich, inform and leave a lasting legacy. It brings together businesses and creative sectors with schools and local communities through the creation of uniquely painted sculptures.
Since 2008 Wild in Art has animated cities across the world including Sydney, Auckland, Cape Town and São Paulo, and created trails for the London 2012 Olympics, the 2014 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, Historic Royal Palaces and award-winning animation studio Aardman.
Wild in Art events have:
- Enabled over £26.5m to be raised for charitable causes
- Injected £4.8m into local creative communities
- Engaged over 1.3 million young people in learning programmes
- Helped millions of people of all ages to experience art in non-traditional settings
wildinart.co.uk | @wildinart | #wildinart
About Aardman
Aardman is an employee-owned company, based in Bristol (UK) and co-founded in 1976 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. An independent, multi-Academy Award® and BAFTA® award winning studio, it produces feature films, series, advertising, games and interactive entertainment. Current animated productions include the feature length sequel Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and a brand-new Wallace & Gromit film for 2024.
Its productions are global in appeal, novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterised and full of charm reflecting the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the Aardman team. The studio’s work – which includes the creation of much-loved characters including Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time and Morph – is often imitated, and yet the company continues to lead the field producing a rare brand of visually stunning content for cinema, broadcasters, digital platforms and live experiences around the world. Recent celebrated projects include the Academy Award® and BAFTA® nominated short film Robin Robin, International Emmy® award winning Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas, BAFTA® nominated preschool series The Very Small Creatures and the brand new CGI comedy series for kids Lloyd of the Flies.
The studio runs the Aardman Academy which has a commitment to nurturing talent by delivering excellence in film and animation training and mentoring. The Aardman Academy offers a variety of courses from intensive one-day workshops teaching production skills and storyboarding, to comprehensive twelve-week courses for professionals in craft-based subjects from model making to animation.
In November 2018 it became an Employee-Owned Organisation, to ensure Aardman remains independent and to secure the creative legacy and culture of the company for many decades to come. www.aardman.com
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