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Hospice announces volunteer roles for Ipswich Big Hoot 2022 art trail

21 September 2021

St Elizabeth Hospice is looking for volunteers to help the Big Hoot 2022 to swoop into Ipswich town centre next summer.

In May St Elizabeth Hospice revealed the Big Hoot Ipswich 2022 will be the latest art trail to be held in the town in partnership with creative producers, Wild in Art.

Taking place between June and September next year, the Big Hoot will see 40 ornately decorated owl sculptures scattered throughout Ipswich as part of the biggest free art event in Suffolk which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the town.

Now the hospice is calling on the local community to consider becoming ‘trailmakers’ and volunteering for the magical trail and support the independent Suffolk charity, which every year delivers free care to 3,000 patients, and their families, living with a progressive or life-limiting illness throughout East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney.

From administration, drivers to transport the Hoots, selling Hoot merchandise through to marketing and supporting the running of the trail itself, guiding trail fans as they visit the owls, there is a range of volunteering roles available.

Lynda Mills, Volunteer Partnerships Administration Coordinator at St Elizabeth Hospice, said: “We had a fantastic response from the public in their support of our Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk and Pigs Gone Wild art trails. The wonderful trailmakers were absolutely brilliant and were essential to the success of the trails through their generous support.

“Volunteering for the Big Hoot 2022 will be such an exciting experience, from helping prepare the event through to facilitating its running during the summer. Being a trailmaker is a unique opportunity to be part of a vibrant celebration which will bring together the community of Ipswich and further afield.”

Around 50 trailmakers volunteered their time to support the hospice’s Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk 2019. A trail which proved a huge success, with its subsequent statue auction and accompanying fundraising activities, generating more than £260,000 for the hospice.

Barbara King, who volunteered in the Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk shop in Ipswich town centre, said: “I wanted to support the hospice as I was already volunteering on the reception desk having seen for myself the fantastic work the hospice does. I thought the Elmer trail was a fascinating project that would appeal to a wide range of people from all age groups.

“I worked on the information desk in the Corn Exchange on a number of Saturday afternoons. I also did a meet and greet session for people to preview the Elmer statues, which were up for auction.

“It was lovely to meet people of all ages who were fascinated by the elephants and the whole trail. Many of the families had been on the trail all morning and wanted to end the journey by being able to buy the merchandise as a keepsake. The children especially wanted to share their excitement over what they’d seen.

“I had such a lovely time chatting to people about their favourite elephants and encouraging children to do some colouring and helping them to choose which gifts to buy.”

There is also an opportunity to become an intern for the Big Hoot 2022, supporting the Fundraising and Marketing Manager with the development and implementation of the art trail. To apply visit – www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/about-us/about-us/work-for-us/vacancies/big-hoot-intern-assistant-2/.

Juliette Joannes, who was an intern for Elmer’s Big Parade from 2018-2019, said: “Being an intern on the Wild in Art project enabled me to gain many skills related to fundraising, event management and administration.

“Being part of a small team working on a big project means the role is extremely varied, including trips to the warehouse, delivering sculptures to artist, office based tasks such as responding to queries from the public and much more.”

For more details about becoming a trailmaker visit www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/support-us/support-us/volunteer-for-us/current-volunteer-vacancies/the-big-hoot-volunteer/.

To find out more about volunteering for the Big Hoot 2022 contact Lynda Mills by emailing Lynda.Mills@stelizabethhospice.org.uk.