CELEBRATIONS were in full swing for a county hospice after an auction of 31 giraffe sculptures raised £210,400 for the St Richard’s Hospice Build 2020 Appeal.
Worcester Stands Tall, a Wild in Art event brought to the city by St Richard’s, captured the hearts of the community and attracted thousands of visitors this summer.
Over the summer, 57 giraffes stood through the city’s streets and open spaces for 10 weeks attracting thousands of visitors from all over the country.
Of the 57 sculptures, 30 were giant giraffes and 27 were calves – 26 of which were decorated by schools and community groups.
All the giant giraffes and one calf, Lily the Pink, went to auction while the remaining 26 calves will return to those who decorated them as a legacy of the project.
Hanbury Dave Graesser generously added to the £1,700 raised in a fund-raising appeal to bring the Snowdrop giraffe sculpture to the hospice gardens with a winning bid of £8,000.
Snowdrop will have company at the hospice as another giraffe sculpture, Touch the Wishing Star, designed by Pershore resident Toyah Willcox, was donated to the hospice by its winning bidder.
John Sheen bought the sculpture in memory of his daughter Sarah Trueman who was cared for by St Richard’s before she died in August, aged 31.
Mr Sheen said, “Sarah died at St Richard’s and I thought it was appropriate to bid for Wishing on a Star as hopefully she is up there looking at us.”
He added: “I hope that children will go and see the giraffe if their grandparents or parents are ill and they can wish on that star. It’s also in memory of my daughter and will always be there.”
The hospice’s Build 2020 appeal aims to raise the £5.3million needed to build a bigger hospice, enabling more patients and loved ones to be cared for in the future.
Tricia Cavell, fund-raising director at St Richard’s Hospice, said: “To all of the buyers, artists, sponsors, partners, supporters, schools, community groups and public who helped make this project possible – we would like to say a sincere thank you for your immeasurable support.
Visit www.strichards.org.uk for more.
