MORE than 3,500 people visited The Big Hop Trail’s Farewell Event at The Music Hall in Aberdeen this weekend (September 16 and 17), with the much-loved hare sculptures being sold at auction for Clan Cancer Support tonight (September 18).
The weekend’s event, sponsored by Stagecoach, was the final opportunity to view and ‘collect’ all the hare sculptures before they go under the hammer with celebrity auctioneer Charles Hanson at the iconic venue.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Why? Free to subscribe, no paywall, daily business news digest.
The Big Hop Trail, sponsored by Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, was delivered by Clan Cancer Support which provides physical and emotional support to anyone affected by a cancer diagnosis.
More than 240,000 people actively engaged in the trail with many thousands more exposed to the project during the nine weeks the sculptures were on display.
Trail goers walked more than 8,500 miles and collected 133,295 sculptures in public locations including parks, shopping centres, libraries, museums and galleries across the north-east, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.
Clan Cancer Support’s CEO, Fiona Fernie, said: “Our hares have been taken into the hearts of the local communities involved in the project and that was especially evident at the weekend with thousands of visitors attending our sold-out event for a final glimpse of their long-eared friends.
“We are now at the final stage of the trail which will see us auction off our beautiful sculptures to new homes, with all the funds raised being used to provide much needed services for people impacted by a cancer diagnosis.
“We’d like to thank everyone who has supported the project so far and would encourage any hopeful bidders to register their interest online now or join us at the Music Hall tonight to raise their paddle.”
Daniel Laird, commercial director at Stagecoach Bluebird added: “We were delighted to sponsor the Farewell Weekend and play our part in The Big Hop Trail as Transport Partner of the event. It has been great to see people of all ages take part in collecting hares and coming together to see the incredible sculptures on display at this weekend’s event.
“The Farewell Weekend has helped to showcase fantastic local artists across Scotland and the UK whilst raising awareness of the vital work of Clan. We are very pleased to see the success of the event and how it will help Clan to continue to provide essential services to those impacted by cancer.”
In partnership with Wild in Art, the trail aims to raise awareness for Clan Cancer Support which runs six support centres and additional outreach programmes across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney and Shetland and generate vital funding for its services.
Charlie Langhorne, co-founder and managing director of Wild in Art said: “The Big Hop Trail really has captured the imagination of the people of Aberdeen, the wider north-east of Scotland and up into Orkney and the Shetland Islands. The project’s success really is a testament to the creativity of the artists, the fantastic support of the sponsors and the great team at Clan. Now is the time for the hare’s last big hop, to their “forever homes” at the grand auction.”
All forty large hare sculptures and five specially commissioned mini leveret sculptures will be sold at auction this evening with bidding starting at £3,000 per sculpture.
Bargain Hunt presenter Charles Hanson will lead the proceedings, with support from radio personality Claire Stevenson.
The event takes place at 6pm tonight (Monday, September 18) at The Music Hall, Aberdeen with tickets still available to the public from £10.
An online bidding room will also be available for those who can’t attend the auction in person and wish to place a bid.
For more information please visit: https://www.thebighop.co.uk/events/auction/
