First pig signed up by town shopping centre

The first in the herd of prize pigs for a major Ipswich public art event has been signed up by a busy shopping centre.

Pigs Gone Wild will see over 40 bespoke pigs on display across the town’s streets, parks and open spaces for ten weeks next summer and Pig Number One paid a visit to the Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre.

The centre, currently undergoing a £4 million refit before being relaunched as the Sailmakers shopping complex, is one of the first to snap up one of the charity pigs which feature in a major fundraising effort for the St Elizabeth Hospice. Ipswich Central, the Business Improvement District company for the town, has also signed up.

Hospice special projects manager, Norman Lloyd, called at Tower Ramparts with Tally-ho Trotters to celebrate the sale of the first charity pig, one of over 40, each to be designed by a different artist for a unique sculpture trail through the town.

St Elizabeth Hospice cares for more than 2,000 people and their families in East Suffolk every year who are facing a progressive illness. As an independent charity, it is always looking for new ways for the community to get involved and help raise money to support its vital work.

Mike Sorhaindo, manager of Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre, said: “St Elizabeth Hospice has a special place in the hearts of the people of Ipswich and the surrounding area and we have worked very closely on other joint projects in the past..

“It has touched the lives of so many families here and so we were glad to support the Pigs Gone Wild project and are delighted to be one of the first to sign up to sponsor a pig. We will display our own unique pig sculpture here in the new-look Sailmakers Shopping Centre.”

Pigs Gone Wild, Suffolk’s biggest-ever mass-participation, public art event will run for ten weeks next summer and will see Sailmakers and other Ipswich businesses, streets, parks and open spaces become home to a herd of individually designed pigs – showcasing the wealth of artistic talent in the area and raising money for the Hospice.

The pigs will be joined by smaller pig sculptures designed by local school children and their teachers, which will appear in litters across the town.

And there is even a happy ending for the pigs when the ten-week trail finishes. They will be auctioned off to raise funds for St Elizabeth Hospice.

Norman Lloyd said: “We’re getting lots of support and we’re delighted that Tower Ramparts and Ipswich Central are the first two companies to sign up to sponsor a pig.

“The pigs will be an impressive size, up to two metres long and a metre high so you won’t easily be able to miss them.”

Find out more about our exciting project coming to Ipswich in summer 2016 at www.pigsgonewild.co.uk



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