A charity Shaun the Sheep art trail was officially launched in the North East today with hopes the bah-utiful work could raise up to £200,000 for a much-loved hospice.
Newcastle Civic Centre was bustling with people this morning (July 19) as representatives from the council, St Oswald’s Hospice and a local primary school helped reveal the final sheep on the 'Shaun on the Tyne' trail.
Located across Newcastle and Tyneside, visitors can follow the accessible trail and tick off all the Shauns they find on a £1 map for the next ten weeks, with all the proceeds funding the work at St Oswald’s Hospice.
The trail includes 45 larger statues and 70 ‘Little Shaun’s’ that have been decorated by children including pupils from St Oswald’s Catholic Primary School, whose sheep is in Fenwick’s.
Youngsters Emily and Jude of St Oswald’s school were then invited up to lead the reveal, showing the world Shaun the Sheep with ‘the wrong trousers’, which is a reference to a popular film in the Wallace and Gromit franchise.
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Libby Fryer, Trail Leader, of St Oswald’s Hospice, who helped create the trail with company Wild and Art, stated that the trail will help “brighten up Newcastle” just in time for summer.
She added: “The trail has been about eighteen months in the making. It is amazing and very surreal to see it come to life as it feels like it was two minutes ago that we chose the theme.
“It is lovely to finally launch and see them on the streets. We’ll be fundraising throughout the trail and the community can buy raffle tickets to win a ‘little Shaun’ and buy our maps or download the app.”
Despite the baa-d rainy weather, the crows stuck around to get a glimpse of the final sheep as cheers were heard all around when the cloth was pulled back.
The stars of the show who were chosen to assist the reveal was Emily and Jude of St Oswald’s Catholic Primary School in Gosforth.
Their teacher, Mrs Summersby said the pair had worked “so hard” this year which is why they had a feature role in the important event.
Over 200 children at the school worked on the sheep using their thumbprints, which is now in Fenwick’s department store for the whole of Newcastle to enjoy.
Leader of Newcastle City Council, Nick Kemp, who helped sponsor the event told The Northern Echo it was “amazing” to be at the launch as he praised the work of St Oswald’s.
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He said: “To sponsor the Shaun the Sheep trail is incredible as the artwork brings life to the city. More importantly, it supports St Oswald’s Hospice which is one of the greatest assets we have in the city.
“They give so much care and help families in very distressing times. Bringing Shaun to the city will make a great summer.”
At the end of the ten-week event, the larger Shaun statues will go to auction and raise even more money for St Oswald’s Hospice, which offers compassionate care for children and adults in the North East.
To find out more about the Shaun the Sheep art trail or donate to the cause, click here.
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