Clydesdale schools join the hippo trail for BIG Stampede

Here's one we made earlier...young Sam Nisbet meets a hippo decorated with hospital scrubs at the launch at his school in Hamilton.

The education initiative, which will involve over 80 schools and nurseries, is part of The BIG Stampede, a large scale art trail organised by Hamilton Business Improvement District in partnership with Wild in Art.

The sculpture trail will see a herd of elephants, tower of giraffes, pride of lions, band of gorillas and crash of rhinos stampede into Hamilton in summer of 2017 to raise funds for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity.

Confectionery brand Tunnock’s and The Regent Shopping Centre in Hamilton have joined the pack as Safari Community and Education Sponsors, to give school children the chance to get involved and decorate baby hippo sculptures which will go on display on the trail.

Youngsters with some of the hippos, at the launch at Woodside Primary School.

Eight schools across Carluke and Lanark have signed up to take part; these are Carluke Primary, Robert Owen Memorial Primary, Milton Primary in Lesmahagow; St. John’s Primary in Blackwood; Bent Primary in Lesmahagow, Milton Primary in Lesmahagow, Kirkfieldbank Primary and Rigside Primary School.

As well as a hippo sculpture, participating schools will receive a selection of valuable education resources spanning a number of areas of the curriculum, from numeracy, literacy and art to conservation and the environment, that will help to engage pupils in the learning experience in a fun and practical way.

There’s still time for more businesses to become part of the pack and show their support for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity by sponsoring a safari animal as a Safari Trail Sponsor or a Safari Charity Sponsor.

Gareth Walker, BID Manager at Hamilton BID, said: “We’ve seen high demand from schools across Lanarkshire to participate in this educational initiative and we’re really looking forward to seeing some of the colourful designs from the pupils.

"The BIG Stampede is all about inspiring locals, businesses and tourists to celebrate the creativity of the area so to be able to capture the imagination of so many young people is fantastic.”

The school’s hippos will join a trail of larger safari sculptures that will be brought to life by artists, both local and national. At the end of the event, each large safari sculpture will be auctioned with surplus funds going to Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity while the miniature hippos will be returned to the pupils to set-up home in their schools as souvenirs of the campaign.

Wild in Art is one of the leading creative producers of spectacular, mass-appeal public art events which bring together business and creative sectors with schools and local communities through the creation of city-wide trails of uniquely painted sculptures.