One of the North East’s biggest businesses has thrown its support behind Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne™, the free public art trail raising funds for Newcastle’s St Oswald’s Hospice this summer.
The trail will celebrate the charity’s 40th birthday and Beatrix Potter’s 160th anniversary, while bringing together the region’s community for 9 weeks of fun, starting from Wednesday 15th July.
As well as the 40 large sculptures, designed and painted by artists, there will be a dedicated Learning & Community Programme and St Oswald’s Hospice has announced Northumbrian Water will be its headline sponsor. This programme will include over 50 ‘little Peter Rabbits’ which will form small groups or ‘fluffles’, displayed at visitor centres and venues across Newcastle and North Tyneside.
Northumbrian Water has shown it’s support to previous art trails presented by the St Oswald’s Hospice team. The company were headline sponsors of the Learning Programme in 2023, when a flock of sheep took over Newcastle for the Shaun on the Tyne trail, raising over £300,000 for the hospice and were key supporters of the Great North Snowdogs trail in 2016v and Elmer’s Great North Parade in 2019.
This time round, as part of their sponsorship, Northumbrian Water will have their own large Peter Rabbit sculpture proudly displayed at an iconic location on the trail. As a sponsor of a ‘community sculpture’ the company are working alongside an artist to tell a story through the design. Once the trail is over, Northumbrian Water will choose a forever home for the sculpture, where it can continue to be seen and enjoyed by the community who created it.
They have also supported the participating school and community groups by providing learning resources to help educate them about the importance of water, how it connects us to the natural world, and the small changes we can all make to protect this precious resource.
To mark the beginning of the partnership, Sonia Graham, Fundraising Manager at St Oswald’s Hospice, visited Northumbrian Water’s Durham headquarters with two of the little Peter Rabbit sculptures, which schools and community groups will decorate. Here she introduced the Peter Rabbits to Jennie Collingwood, Head of Corporate Affairs at Northumbrian Water.
Jennie said:
“Supporting the communities in the areas we work in is very important to us, so we’re delighted to be working with St Oswald’s Hospice on this.
“This fantastic partnership builds on our history of working closely with schools across the region. By supporting the Learning & Community Programme, we hope to inspire young people to make small changes in how they use water so that together we can make big waves in protecting our precious water supplies.”
“We look forward to seeing the positive impact that the Learning & Community Programme will have in our community, and we can’t wait for the sculptures to come to life.”
Welcoming Northumbrian Water to the Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne project, Sonia said: “The excitement and engagement we’ve seen already when talking to schools and community groups has been fantastic and this is matched by the team at Northumbrian Water.
“Together with them, our inspirational schools and groups and other sponsors and trail partners, we will deliver a fantastic, free and inclusive trail for everyone to enjoy this summer.”
A dedicated app and trail map will help visitors seek out the big and little Peter Rabbits once the trail begins. For all our trail news visit our Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.
Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne is being held in conjunction with creative producers Wild in Art, along with The World of Peter Rabbit, Headline Trail Partner Newcastle City Council, Trail Partner North Tyneside Council, Learning Programme Partner Northumbrian Water and Community Partner North Standard.
