Pupils from Bildeston Primary School had a real ‘hoot’ this World Book Day dressing up as owls to help raise funds for independent Suffolk charity, St Elizabeth Hospice.
To mark World Book Day, on 3rd March, and to celebrate the school participating in the hospice’s ‘Little Hoot’ education programme, as part of this summer’s Big Hoot Ipswich 2022 art trail, the youngsters donned costumes to transform themselves into a parliament of owls, while making donations to the charity in the process.
Julia Shaw, Executive Head Teacher at Bildeston Primary School, said: “The Little Hoot has really captured the imagination of our families. We launched the fundraising at Christmas with a raffle for hampers and we were overwhelmed with support in the form of prizes and families selling tickets to their wider family and friends.
“We also had a competition to decorate stars and displayed them outside the school. We were hoping to make a good start to our £1,000 target but ended up doing far better than we thought. We knew the generosity of families supporting St Elizabeth Hospice on World Book Day, which was owl themed, would easily get us to the target and we intend to keep going with our fundraising efforts!”
The Big Hoot Ipswich 2022 is the third art trail brought to Ipswich by St Elizabeth Hospice in partnership with creative producers Wild in Art, following the success of Pigs Gone Wild 2016 and Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk 2019.
As part of the Big Hoot 2022, 50 ornately decorated owl sculptures will be scattered throughout Ipswich, between 19th June and 3rd September, as part of the biggest free art event in Suffolk which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the town.
The Little Hoot education programme is running alongside the Big Hoot and has seen many schools and youth groups in Suffolk signing up to be inspired and get creative as part of the art trail.
By joining the learning programme, each school has pledged to raise a minimum of £695 for the hospice, while they have also received a blank ‘Little Hoot’ sculpture to decorate and a resource pack linked to the curriculum to help teachers stimulate young minds.
All the Little Hoots will come together at the Suffolk Show for the pupils and their families to be able to see under one roof and admire the great work.
Brandon Orton, Community Fundraiser at St Elizabeth Hospice, added: “A huge well done and thank you to all the pupils and staff at Bildeston Primary School for their brilliant support and their fantastic costumes on World Book Day.
“They all looked ‘owl-tastic’ and we are so pleased to see they are as excited as the hospice team are, for the arrival of the Big Hoot this summer and we cannot wait to see all the Little Hoot statues come to life as well!”
For more information about the Big Hoot 2022 go to thebighoot.co.uk.