This year the local palliative care hospice, St Giles Hospice are hosting the March of the Elephants trail. The trail will consist of decorative elephant sculptures spread around Tamworth, Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield for families to enjoy during the summer. This will be a great way to raise awareness for the hospice and increase footfall in the local areas.
Recently, Shire Leasing visited St Giles Hospice to meet with Donna Newman, a local artist selected to paint Shire Leasing’s sponsored elephant sculpture for the March of the Elephants trail.
The hospice, located just down the road from our offices in the lovely village of Whittington, Lichfield, was full of excitement as the artists who had created the designs for the trail began their painting. Donna Newman, an artist from Sutton Coldfield, has previously been commissioned to design and create elephant sculptures for various Wild in Art trails. She commented “I have so far worked on over 100 sculptures for various trails and I am really looking forward to working on another 3 for St Giles Hospice.”.
Whilst attending, Donna started with a blank canvas (pictured below). Over the following weeks, she has transformed the sculpture into a beautiful piece of artwork to brighten up the trail within Tamworth, Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield for everyone to view and enjoy.
The March of the Elephants trail will be going live this summer over Staffordshire and the West Midlands. Having these trails in the local towns will not only act as a way to promote walking and improve the wellbeing of the local community, the increased footfall from visitors will also go towards supporting small, local businesses throughout the summer. As a sponsor, Shire Leasing employees will get to enjoy the trail with their families and friends, but also have the chance to support St Giles Hospice with volunteering opportunities and upkeep of the sculpture.
To learn more information about St Giles Hospice and how to support their work, visit: https://www.marchoftheelephants.co.uk/
