The Big Hoot sculpture trail coming to Ipswich this summer

Published25th January 2022

We – St Elizabeth Hospice and Ipswich Borough Council - are delighted to be working together to provide a new exciting component to the planned Ipswich 2022 sculpture trail: The Big Hoot.

The trail will attract huge footfall into the town. Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk in 2019 saw over 390,000 people engaging in the trail with over 35% of those people coming from outside Ipswich. Over the summer months of 2022 people will have the opportunity to view 50 large Big Hoot owl sculptures and a further 60 Little Hoots. The Little Hoots form the learning programme and will be decorated by local schools and groups.

As part of our Little Hoot owl trail, Ipswich Borough Council have funded a new initiative – as part of their support for the town centre independent retail sector. The initial phase of that half-million pounds Covid-related support package saw 63 independent retailers receive £7,000 each and we have now written to all of these to give them a chance to bid to be part of a new ‘Little Hoot’ initiative for 2022.

The Council and the Hospice have agreed to place a Little Hoot Owl Sculpture in the shop windows of up to 40 independent retailers in the town centre. We believe this will bring additional visitors to these shops. All the Little Hoots will be in the shop window from 17 June until 31 August 2022 and will be visible even when the shop is shut.

Councillor Sarah Barber, Portfolio Holder for the Town Centre at Ipswich Borough Council says:

“I’m delighted we are working with St Elizabeth Hospice to ensure our local independent retailers have the opportunity to benefit from the footfall powers of these sculpture trails. I’m sure the Little Hoots will create excitement across the town centre and that this will be a great new element to the trail to help the Hoots beat the Elmers and the Pigs in terms of popularity.”

Cathy Frost, owner of LoveOne on St Peters Street says:

“I was fortunate to host both a little Elmer and a small Pig and know the positive impact that they had on footfall to my shop in 2016 and 2019. I’m really excited that we will have so many more independent retailers involved this time - and I congratulate the Council and the Hospice for this new initiative. I’d certainly recommend this project to other retailers.”

Mandy Errington, owner of DJV Boutique on Cox Lane says:

“I’m really keen to get involved and host a Little Hoot. I loved the Elmer trail and looking forward to displaying one of the owls at DJV. This project is an exciting way of bringing small businesses together in addition to gaining the support and interaction from the local community. This initiative ensures that independents can benefit from further support from the Council to help drive more footfall to the town.”

Hannah Bloom, Director of Income Generation at St Elizabeth Hospice, says:

“We are thrilled to be working with the Borough Council on this brilliant new initiative for our Little Hoot in 2022. It really is the big new thing for this – our 3rd – animal-themed trail and we are sure it will make a huge and positive difference for all independent retailers who do get involved. We are looking forward to seeing all sorts of creative displays in shop windows this summer and we’re sure our retailer hosts will link up brilliantly with the local schools and groups that will be decorating the Little Hoots.”

For more information on The Big Hoot Art Trail and the many opportunities as to how to get involved please see: The Big Hoot Art Trail - The Big Hoot Ipswich 2022

 

Image credit – St Elizabeth Hospice