Fifty-two Nottingham primary schools have joined Robin Hood’s merry band by signing up for the Hoodwinked education programme, Robin’s Tales.
The programme of novel literacy and art activities will bring the Robin Hood legend to life for thousands of children across the city, before the Hoodwinked sculpture trail hits the streets of Nottingham this summer.
Boots UK is the official Hoodwinked Education Partner, and is contributing heritage materials from the Boots archive to enhance the education pack, which will be filled with creative ideas and learning resources aligned to both the National Curriculum and Arts Award.
The Director of CSR and Communications at Boots, Una Kent, said: “We are thrilled that so many schools from across Nottingham have signed up to Hoodwinked and will be part of Robin’s Tales. It’s an exciting new chapter in the story of Boots literary heritage, supporting our longstanding commitment to improving literacy and access to reading for all. We hope the programme enables many more children to discover a love for stories and enjoyment of the arts through local tales and legends.”
Each school will also design and decorate a bespoke BookBench. These will be displayed throughout the summer in libraries and leisure centres to celebrate pupils’ creativity and complement the main Hoodwinked sculpture trail in the city centre, before being returned to school as a permanent reminder of Hoodwinked.
Councillor Dave Trimble, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from schools and are delighted that so many children will benefit from taking part in this unique education programme with such a Nottingham flavour. The BookBenches will be a fantastic focal point in every neighbourhood and I can’t wait to see the 52 unique designs unveiled.”
Hoodwinked is led by Nottingham City Council in partnership with Wild in Art, a leading creative producer of spectacular free public art events through the creation of uniquely-painted sculptures.
The BookBenches will complement a trail of around 30 decorated robin sculptures that will be on display in the city from July to September, each sponsored by a business. The sculptures are all based on an identical mould but each one will be unique, designed and painted by an artist.
Money will be raised for the Hoodwinked charity partner, Nottinghamshire Hospice, with an auction of the sculptures in October 2018.
www. hoodwinked2018.co.uk
About Wild in Art
Wild in Art is one of the leading producers of spectacular, mass-appeal public art events, which connect businesses, artists and communities through the power of creativity and innovation.
Since 2008 Wild in Art has animated cities across the world including Sydney, Melbourne, Cape Town and São Paulo, and created trails for the London 2012 Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Historic Royal Palaces and Penguin Random House.
Wild in Art events have:
• Enabled over £10m to be raised for charitable causes
• Injected £1.7m into local creative communities
• Engaged over 500,000 young people in learning programmes
• Helped millions of people of all ages to experience art in non-traditional settings
The Wild in Art apps powered by Mediaworks are available to download from the App Store and Google Play.
wildinart.co.uk | @wildinart | #wildinart
About Boots UK
Boots UK (boots.com), the UK’s leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer, is part of the Retail Pharmacy International Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise.
With 2,486* stores in the UK, its purpose is to champion everyone’s right to feel good, and Boots UK is committed to providing exceptional customer and patient care, be the first choice for pharmacy and healthcare and offer innovative ‘only at Boots’ exclusive products such as the UK’s leading skincare brand No7. Created over 165 years ago, the Boots brand is still at the heart of the communities it serves.
*As of 31 August 2017, excluding equity method investments