Trail of painted elephants to stampede into Dorset
The art trail's being set up to raise cash for Weldmar Hospicecare
A herd of more than fifty brightly decorated elephants will be making their way into west Dorset next spring, to raise money for a local hospice.
The first designs for Stampede by the Sea have officially been unveiled at Bridport's Electric Palace, ahead of their installation in Bridport, West Bay and Lyme Regis in 2025.
The elephants will be located around the area, and visitors to the trail will be able to follow the app to visit each of the sculptures.
Each sculpture will be sponsored to raise money for Weldmar Hospicecare, and will also be sold off at auction at the end of the trail.
A ‘hero’ elephant has already been revealed, entitled Waves of Emotion, and was created by Dorset artist Anissa Lee.
She worked with attendees of Weldmar’s Wellbeing Support Sessions to come up with a design that reflected both the local area and the care provided by the charity.
Matt Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Weldmar Hospicecare, said:
"This is something that we’ve wanted to do for a number of years, and now seems the right time as Weldmar marks its 30th anniversary.
"Apart from the financial benefits to us from the sponsorships and the auction which will go straight back into delivering our care, this will also help break down those barriers and the stigma around end of life and dying, and conversations around bereavement which can be the elephant in the room.
"Getting people to understand the care we provide in Dorset is really important."
Schools and youth organisations in the area are also able to take part in a learning programme running alongside the trail.
Each participating organisation will get a baby elephant sculpture to design as they wish, along with learning resources on elephant conservation and the work of Weldmar Hospicecare.
It will highlight services such as visits for patients at home from community nurses to provide advice and support, care from the charity’s hospice at home service during a patient’s final weeks and days, therapies to enhance mental and physical wellbeing, bereavement support, and more.
Charlie Langhorne is Managing Director and co-founder of Wild in Art, and says,
"We create what I call big bonkers brilliant art trails all over the world. They deliver smiles, they deliver economic impact, they deliver health and wellbeing benefits, but they all raise a huge amount of money for our charitable partners such as Weldmar.
"It’s a really simple concept, when people walk round the corner they bump into a wonderful elephant sculpture, they enjoy the artwork and it makes them smile.
"Off the back of those smiles, amazing things can happen."