Over the summer thousands of visitors flocked to Maidstone to take part in the free Shaun the Sheep in the Heart of Kent art trail. The 26th September saw these beautifully painted and individually designed sculptures go under the hammer at auction to raise money for Heart of Kent Hospice.
A staggering £265,250 was raised for the Hospice following the sale of the large Shaun Sculptures, some little Shaun sculptures and a few surprise lots. All the individual artworks were painted by talented local and national artists and were auctioned by Clive Emson Land and Property Auctioneers at the Clive Emson Conference centre on Thursday evening.
The eager and enthusiastic auction-goers, including some telephone and proxy bidders, were amazing in helping the Hospice to raise this incredible amount.
The amount raised will help the Hospice continue to run vital services and provide free palliative end-of-life care to people with terminal illnesses in and around Maidstone in Kent which cost £6.6 million per annum. The Hospice relies on donations, fundraisers and gifts in Wills to run its services with only small grants coming from the NHS.
The ‘Bee Happy’ Shaun sculpture by artist Donna Newman raised the most on the night, selling for an amazing £8,500.
One special moment came at the auction when several bidders stood up to pledge £1,000 each to raise a total of £14,000 for the Shaun Bench by Annabelle Hodd named ‘Changing of the Seasons’. This wonderful design was created in memory of the artists friend Lesley who was cared for by the Hospice. The bench will now have a forever home at the Hospice where patients and their families can enjoy sitting and creating memories together.
Rachel Street, Chief Executive Heart of Kent Hospice said: ‘This amazing event was a collaboration between our Hospice, Aardman, Wild in Art and Presenting Partner and sponsor Maidstone Borough Council. We couldn’t have carried out this event without the support of our Partners and Sponsors, our volunteer trail makers, along with so many other local businesses who gave their time, services and support. Before the auction all the colourful Shaun sculptures were together in one place for the Farewell Weekend, which over 2,300 people attended.
“During the nine-week free art trail 10,700 people downloaded the Parade app and a staggering 640,000 Shaun sculptures were collected, and we know that many more thousands of people enjoyed the trail using the printed map or enjoyed just stumbling upon the Shaun Sculptures while in the town centre or walking along the river path and in the parks of Maidstone. This summer the Hospice team have had so many wonderful conversations with new visitors to Maidstone, residents out exploring new and familiar areas and families that the Hospice have supported across the years; as well as being able to tell many more people about the work of our Hospice.”
Director of Income Generation at the Hospice Ann-Marie Kelly said: “Fundraising is vital for the Hospice to be able to continue to provide specialist advice, support and specialist care to our community. The amount raised will help pay for our team of Doctors, Nurses and Healthcare Assistants who provide personalised around-the-clock care in our Inpatient Unit and in people’s homes and care homes. We hope everyone enjoyed the trail and learning more about the Hospices work and will consider supporting the charity in the future.
Hospice care has never been more needed and demand for our services continues to grow, so fundraising like this is vital to enable us to continue delivering the care that our community needs.”
The Auction took place between 6:00pm – 10pm and was conducted by Official Auction Partner Clive Emson Land and Property Auctioneers.
Further information or to donate to the Hospice visit www.hokh.org
For further information about ‘Shaun the Sheep in the Heart of Kent’ visit https://shaunheartofkent.co.uk/
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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:
- www.facebook.com/HeartOfKentHospice
- https://twitter.com/heartofkenthosp
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, award-winning animation studio Aardman and Penguin Random House.
Wild in Art events have:
- Enabled over £26.3m to be raised for charitable causes
- Injected £4.3m into local creative communities
- Engaged over 1.2 million young people in learning programmes
- Helped millions of people of all ages to experience art in non-traditional settings
The Wild in Art apps are available to download from the App Store and Google Play.
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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