As you might have noticed, the city was recently taken over by a load of robin statues that made up the interactive trail, Hoodwinked. The project was born to raise money for Nottinghamshire Hospice, and there’s going to be an auction for the 33 robins at St. Mary’s Church on Thursday 18 October, at 6.45pm. We got down to the Farewell to the Flock event at the Hospice and took a few snaps...
Nottinghamshire Hospice is a beautifully cosy place, and the gardens out back are absolutely stunning. As we entered Hoodwinked: Farewell to the Flock event, we took a sneak peek at the robins laid out back before being greeted with a glass of Prosecco and canapes among Nottingham’s “VIP”s. Ooh, I say.
For the evening, and for the rest of the week, all 33 robins that’ve featured on the Hoodwinked trail across Nottingham have been put on display together. The gardens behind the Hospice are the perfect location; it not only draws people to the very place the project’s in support of, but acts as a marvellously picturesque setting, and highlights just how important a place the Hospice is to those receiving end-of-life care in the city.
We were soon called inside for speeches. First up was Nottinghamshire Hospice’s Rowena Naylor-Morrell, who talked about the project’s aims; namely, to change the perceptions of what the charity does, and to raise awareness and funds. Rowena mentioned how pleased she and everyone else at the Hospice have been about the “great response to the project” and to see people “really enjoying the robins”. She also mentioned that the lack of vandalism to the statues had been amazing, and encouraged everyone to come along to the auction and buy a robin, whether it be for your home or garden – a notion met with giggles – or to place somewhere for the whole community to enjoy.
After some congratulations to the artists from Nigel Hawkins from Nottingham City Council, we were introduced to Ben Reed from Wild in Art, the organisation that came up with the project idea. Ben talked about how the project has allowed us Nottingham residents to become “tourists in our own city” and to visit places we might not normally go to.
With some final thanks all round, and more encouragement to attend the upcoming Grand Auction and further support Nottinghamshire Hospice, we took to the now-dark gardens and counted down to the light switch-on, to see the full family of robins illuminated beautifully.
Farewell to the Flock took place on Thursday 11 October, 6pm. Nottinghamshire Hospice gardens are open to the public this week so you can check out all the robins one last time.
The Grand Auction takes place on Thursday 18 October, 6.45pm, at St. Mary’s Church. Tickets are £22.15 and you can buy them here.
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