A community art trail featuring elephant sculptures decorated by schools and community groups is being expanded.
March of the Elephants will take place across Lichfield, Tamworth and Sutton Coldfield during the summer.
An initial release of 30 sculptures were made available to schools and community groups – and now another 25 have been added to help meet demand.
Once decorated, they will form part of the March of the Elephants trail helping to raise money for St Giles Hospice.
Emma Yates, from the Whittington-based charity, said:
“The community response has been overwhelming – we decided that we had to add more baby elephants to our herd to offer as many opportunities as possible out to our local community.
“There will now be 55 baby elephants on the trail, that’s an additional 25 elephants available to sponsor, so please get in touch with the team to find out more if your school or community group is not yet involved!”
Emma Yates, St Giles Hospice
Local schools and community groups have embraced the opportunity to showcase their creativity by decorating the sculptures.
Katie Shuck, Year 3 Teaching Assistant at Fulfen Primary School, said:
“I became involved in the project because a young boy at our school has a really close link to St Giles Hospice, and we wanted to get on board to support him and his dad – he shares his story so lovingly with his peers.
“This is a chance to include the whole school in his story as well, and is another chapter for him.”
Katie Shuck, Fulfil Primary School
Community groups and schools can find out more about how to get involved at www.marchoftheelephants.co.uk/learning-programme.
Emma added:
“We are thrilled to see the enthusiastic response from schools and community groups in adopting our elephant sculptures as part of the trail’s Learner Programme.
“The March of the Elephants trail is not only a celebration of art and creativity in our local area, but also a meaningful way to connect with our community and raise awareness for the vital services provided by St Giles Hospice.”
Emma Yates, St Giles Hospice