Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York, Patron of the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, will officially launch Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail in Edinburgh today.
Her Royal Highness will officially launch Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail, the first of its kind, which will see five of Scotland’s major cities unite for 11 weeks, with 200 life-sized Oor Wullie sculptures taking to the streets in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness supporting children’s hospital charities and celebrating Scotland’s favourite and forever young son, Oor Wullie.
Scotland’s children’s hospital charities (Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, The ARCHIE Foundation and Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity) have joined forces with international arts events company, Wild in Art, and DC Thomson Media, custodians of Oor Wullie, to create the trail.
The project aims to significantly boost Scotland’s provision for children and young people in hospital by raising essential funds through the trail and associated events and sculpture auctions.
This is the first time that all of Scotland’s children’s hospital charities have united for the same worthy cause. Her Royal Highness will meet children from across Scotland who have benefitted from the work of the charities.
The trail across Scotland comprises of 200 life-sized, bespoke designed Oor Wullie sculptures across 700 miles. From June to September, the trail is expected to attract over one million members of the public who will be encouraged to explore the country with free maps and a downloadable app, in order to ‘spot’ all sculptures in the trail.
A further 350 ‘wee’ sculptures decorated by local schools, youth and community groups will accompany the main trail, forming mini trails in local libraries, art galleries, shopping centres and public spaces where families can take part in fun activities.
In September, when the trail has ended, all sculptures will be brought together in their respective cities and exhibited as part of a Farewell Weekend. The culmination of the campaign will be a series of regional auctions to raise significant funds for each of the charities involved.
The trail aims to raise awareness for Scotland’s children’s hospital charities which work in partnership with the NHS to provide care for a combined half a million babies, children and young people each year. Money raised by the charity goes towards hospital equipment, family support services, research, staff, training and play and recreation spaces.
Each life-sized Oor Wullie sculpture is unique, reflecting many aspects of Scotland’s cultural identity, and has been individually designed by 200 commissioned artists. For the past eight months the three charities have been working with local businesses and organisations to sponsor the Oor Wullie sculptures, which are now placed at iconic and interesting locations throughout the five trail cities.
By joining artists, businesses, communities, and schools together through Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail the project aims to bring lots of activities for the public and visitors to enjoy throughout the summer. There will also be an opportunity for schools and communities to play a significant part in the trail.
A schools programme will run alongside the event with every school in Scotland being invited to take part in the trail and receive a wee Oor Wullie sculpture of their own. Fun runs, apps, and a number of associated events will encourage local communities to get involved.
Project Milestones:
- October 2018 – The Rt. Hon. Nicola Sturgeon MSP, First Minister of Scotland launched the trail (above). All sectors invited to sponsor a sculpture.
- Winter 2018 – Artists from across the country individually design each sculpture.
- Spring 2019 – Schools in Scotland invited to take part in trail and receive a wee Oor Wullie sculpture to decorate.
- June – August 2019 – All decorated sculptures installed across the country for everyone to discover and enjoy throughout Summer 2019!
- September 2019 – Spectacular Farewell Weekend and auctions of sculptures!
Key highlights:
- The trail is an historic event – it’s the first time in the world that an entire country has held a public art trail, having previously been held only in single cities at a time
- Oor Wullie is an icon, who emotes nostalgia and affection – this well-loved comic character was voted ‘Scotland’s Favourite Son’ beating William Wallace, Sean Connery and Robert Burns into second, third and fourth places respectively.
- All 200 sculptures are sponsored by some of Scotland’s most respected and well-known companies – the national sponsor for this event is Arnold Clark, and other partners include: Citlylink, Avian, Scottish Power, Malcolm Group, Scotrail, Leith Agency, VisitScotland, Active Scotland, Police Scotland, and Deposit and Return Scheme.
- The trail has an Education Programme – which will include tens of thousands of Scottish schoolchildren in the event.
- The trail is free to participate in – a downloadable free app as well as paper versions of the map, will allow families to take part in finding the sculptures, without having to pay. Few events are so accessible for families.
- The trail encourages the public to engage with art and promotes positive messages relating to health and wellbeing – working with our partner Active Scotland have developed a pedometer for the app and activities to enjoy the Trail while walking, running or doing start jumps!
- The trail will end with the auction of all 200 sculptures – potentially raising transformational sums of money for every baby, child and young person in hospital in Scotland.
Roslyn Neely, CEO of Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity explained the reasons why the charities have joined forces for the first time: “We are thrilled that our Royal Patron is in Edinburgh to officially launch the Trail.
“The Trail gives us a unique opportunity to join with our counterpart charities in Glasgow and the North of Scotland to transform the lives of babies, children and young people in hospital and healthcare, so they can be a child first and a patient second.
“Edinburgh is famed for its historic landmarks like Edinburgh Castle, the Scottish Parliament and soon the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. We’re excited to be adding over 50 bespoke designed Oor Wullies to the world famous city skyline this summer.
“The Trail will unite businesses, artists, schools, families and Scotland’s favourite son, Oor Wullie, and we hope to attract tens of thousands of participants to come and take part.”
David Wood, CEO of The ARCHIE Foundation said: “Working with NHS Grampian, Highland and Tayside, The ARCHIE Foundation will ensure all funds raised from this fantastic event helps local sick children and their families.
“We compliment the NHS’ incredible care for young patients by providing additional family support, specialist staff, equipment and training, and creating child-friendly spaces. ARCHIE saw the tremendous benefits of Oor Wullie and his bucket following the first trail in 2016 in Dundee.
“This time around, Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail is set to be bigger and better, covering the three cities ARCHIE serves, as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Oor Wullie is a real mischievous character and I’m looking forward to seeing how each artist has interpreted him in their own way.
“There is real excitement across the cities for the trail to start and we can’t wait to see families out searching for the sculptures again and enjoying themselves. I hope the public will once again show support for Oor Wullie and ARCHIE to help raise vital funds for children in the North and East of Scotland.”
Shona Cardle, CEO of Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity explained: “Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity is delighted to be part of Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail. Oor Wullie is bound to knock the Duke of Wellington off the top spot as the city’s most famous sculpture this summer, with more than 50 Oor Wullies taking pride of place in Glasgow and the West.
“The trail has already captured the hearts and imaginations of thousands of schoolchildren across Scotland, and we can’t wait to see many more visit Oor Wullie at iconic locations across the country this summer.
“We hope that everyone will get behind the trail and help to raise vital funds for the babies, children and young people treated at Scotland’s busiest children’s hospital.”
Charlie Langhorne, Director of Wild in Art commented: “Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail is enormously exciting for all the team at Wild in Art. Building on the strength of our previous events in Scotland, this is our first truly national trail; and something we are all immensely proud of.
“Wild in Art believes passionately in bringing communities, businesses, schools and artists together, and through the power of creativity enabling significant funds to be raised for our charity partners as well as having major social and economic impacts.
“While acknowledging this, we also believe that Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail will make the entire population of Scotland smile, and on the back of a smile, amazing things can happen.“
Ellis Watson, Executive Chairman of DC Thomson Media added: “We’re so delighted to be working with Scotland’s children’s hospital charities and Wild In Art, for this first ever nationwide art trail.
“Our naughty wee scamp, Oor Wullie, is going to have a busy summer getting out and about, helping to raise vital funds for our charity partners, and importantly, every child receiving hospital care in Scotland.
“Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail is an amazing opportunity to bring Scotland together, to have fun, get active and enjoy some incredible art. And when people in Scotland come together we all know how powerful that can be.”
Eddie Hawthorne, Chief Executive & Group Managing Director, Arnold Clark commented: “We’re delighted to support Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail in 2019 and help raise vital funds to transform the lives of children and young people in hospital around the country.
“As the first nationwide public art trail, it’s a great way to explore the incredible attractions in Scotland’s major cities while you have fun spotting all the original artistic interpretations of our national treasure, Oor Wullie.”
More information can be found at www.oorwullie.com
Pictures: Chris Scott Photography
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