The Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times have launched an appeal to raise £5,000 to buy one of the Pigs Gone Wild sculptures for St Elizabeth Hospice.
Dr Trott and Nurse Honey-Cured, best known as the 40th or ‘bonus’ pig on the hugely popular, Pigs Gone Wild trail, was designed by artist, Mik Richardson, with the hospice in mind, and is currently sitting in the hospice reception on Foxhall Road, welcoming visitors.
Patients, volunteers and staff at the local charity would love to keep the Dr/Nurse pig as a permanent feature and to make that wish come true, the Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times have launched an appeal to ask the public to help them raise £5,000 to pay for the pig.
Thousands of people have visited Ipswich to see the stunning swine sculptures over the past ten weeks, spending hours and days following the trail through the town and the waterfront to see all 70 of the pigs and tick them all off the map or scan them all with the app.
Norman Lloyd, Pigs Gone Wild project manager, said: “Since we revealed Dr Trott and Nurse Honey Cured and seen how our patients, staff and volunteers have fallen in love with her, we’ve been hoping that somehow we could keep her.
“We have seen how much the local community, as well as national, and even international, visitors, have adored the pigs and so many have expressed their sadness at the trail coming to an end – and we feel the same. It will be strange to live in a pig-free world, so to be able to keep one of the pigs at the hospice, as a legacy of this extraordinary, incredible event, will be the icing on the cake for us.”
Following the conclusion of the Pigs Gone Wild trail, which ended last Friday, 39 of the larger-than-life pigs will be auctioned off to raise funds for St Elizabeth Hospice. It is hoped that the total raised will be around £100,000 which will make a significant difference to the hospice and the patients and families they care for.
Raising £5,000 through the appeal to buy Dr Trott and Nurse Honey-Cured for the hospice will be a great starting amount going into the auction.
Mr Lloyd added: “The hospice is so well supported by the community, and with the pigs being so popular, we hope that the public will get behind this appeal and help us raise the amount needed to buy the pig for us. If everyone who has done the trail donated just a small amount, we would easily reach our target!
“All the money raised to buy the pig will go to the hospice to help improve life for people living with a progressive illness such as Parkinson’s, cancer, heart failure and motor neurone disease.”
Brad Jones, editor of the Ipswich Star, said: “The Pigs Gone Wild trail has been such a fantastic success, and really put the town on the map. We’re all sad to see it go.
“But this campaign is a way of Ipswich saying ‘thank you’ to the hospice. Many people were involved and worked so hard to make it happen.
“So I hope everyone who enjoyed the trail will make a small donation. It would be a great way of preserving the Pigs Gone Wild legacy – and you’ll be helping the wonderful work of the hospice at the same time.”
You can donate to the appeal and help Dr Trott and Nurse Honey-Cured stay at home in the hospice by visiting http://giving.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/hogforhospice/
You can also donate over the phone by calling 01473 723600.