Thirty-three five-foot tall fibreglass robins have flown in and stolen the hearts of the people of Nottingham.
The city’s Hoodwinked Wild In Art sculpture trail has been on the streets for four weeks and is already proving incredibly popular.
- The Hoodwinked app has been download over 2700 times
- Most popular Robin as voted by app users – Royal Robin Redbreast, by artist Julie Vernon. The beautiful mosaic design was inspired by Nottingham’s royal history
- Most visited Robin as checked in by app users – Rocket Robin on Smithy Row
- Over 34,000 robins have been unlocked using the Hoodwinked app.
The trail was brought to Nottingham after two and a half years of hard work by Nottingham City Council, Wild In Art and Nottinghamshire Hospice.
And it’s not just the robins – more than 50 beautiful BookBenches were created by local primary schools through the Robin’s Tales education programme, supported by Boots. The benches, in intu Victoria Centre, intu Broadmarsh and Central Library as well as in 18 neighbourhood libraries and leisure centres, have been painted in a huge variety of creative designs.
Cllr Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture at Nottingham City Council, said: “Nottingham City Council is so proud and pleased to have brought this fantastic sculpture trail to the city. Hoodwinked is a huge hit both with Nottingham residents and visitors to the city.”
Nigel Hawkins, head of Culture and Libraries at Nottingham City Council, said: “It is marvellous. The team have been working tirelessly to bring it all together and it’s so brilliant to see people enjoying it every day. The city has a great legacy in terms of art and this was a chance to show it on our streets and keep alive the importance of Robin Hood.”
Since the sculptures have been out on the trail, Nottinghamshire Hospice has taken a leading role for Hoodwinked, as preparations begin for the farewell event and charity auction in October. The trail will have a lasting legacy with increased awareness of Nottinghamshire Hospice and vital funds raised for the services it delivers to people with a terminal diagnosis and their families throughout Nottinghamshire.
Rowena Naylor-Morrell, Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire Hospice, said: “We’re delighted to be the charity partner for Hoodwinked and it’s great to see the trail getting such a positive reaction from members of the public. We have taken some groups of patients out on the trail to see the ‘Hands of Hope’ robin they painted in situ in King Street and the other robins. We plan more visits in the coming weeks. It’s a wonderful family friendly activity to do during the summer holidays so I’d urge people if they haven’t already to get down to Nottingham city centre and take a look at these modern masterpieces in our midst.”
Clare Perkins of Sherwood, Nottingham, said: “We took our grandson out on the trail and he loved spotting the robins, they really brighten up the city centre. We found nine of them and are going back and see if we can spot the others.”
Diana Peasey, of Carrington, Nottingham, said: “I accidentally came across two of the robins at Sneinton market and then became hooked. I got the trail guide and did as many as I could on my visits to the city centre. Because it was so hot it took me six attempts to complete the trail. On my journey I increasingly came across families with the trail map on the hunt for the Hoods. It is a very good idea and the art work on each one of them is excellent.”
A Hoodwinked souvenir guide with stunning images and more details about all the robins is available from Nottingham Tourism Centre for just £4.
On 13-14 October, the whole flock will come together for one last time before they go to their forever homes following a public auction. Tickets for the Farewell Event will go on sale in the next week.