Elmer's Big Parade Blackpool

It's official, Elmer's Big Parade Blackpool has raised a massive... ?? ￡200,013!! ?? Not only that, but it boosted Blackpool's economy by a whopping ￡14million as trail-goers travelled from across the country and even overseas, spending time and money in the town! We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved, from our corporate sponsors to our army of volunteers who spent every day checking over our herd, as well as our fabulous artists and everyone who took the time to come and follow our trail. Don't forget, all of the money raised will be going to Brian House, the only children's hospice in Blackpool and the Fylde coast. Wild in Art Andersen Press Ltd.

A great article that really highlights the great deal of good Elmer has done for a range of charitable causes, and we made the main feature! https://lnkd.in/e6UuaViE

The votes are in! Throughout the trail, app-users had the opportunity to vote for their favourite sculptures, including those designed by schools and community groups. In celebration of our small Elmers, we wanted to award the most voted with a 'People's Vote' prize. We are delighted to announce that the winner is... Stanley Primary School! Well done everyone for all the hard work you put into Bubbles and for raising over ￡1,000 through fundraising ??

Congratulations to our second and third place schools on their incredible fundraising efforts! ?? St Johns Catholic Primary raised ￡2206.02 ?? Anchorsholme School raised ￡2085.13 From everyone at Brian House, well done and thank you! Both schools were also gifted with an Amazon voucher, kindly donated by @towerinsurancebrokers - our Learners' Programme sponsor.

When our 34 schools and community groups signed up to the art trail Learners Programme, they were tasked with two very exciting challenges. The first was to design a truly unique Elmer sculpture, which would come back to live with them at the end of the Parade. The second was to try and raise as much money as possible for Brian House Children's Hospice. Over several months we saw all sorts of fun and creativity from our Fylde coast schools and community groups in the way of fundraising. There were bake sales, fancy dress events, raffles, sponsored swims, summer fairs, singalongs and whole days dedicated to Elmer! It’s safe to say everyone did a spectacular job (total coming soon), so please join us in thanking local schools and community groups for their commitment ?? As an extra special thank you, we wanted to surprise our top three fundraisers with an Amazon voucher. And today we had the pleasure of presenting our winner. Drum roll please… In the top spot, raising an incredible ￡8,000 was ?? Ribby with Wrea Green! A huge congratulations to you all.

This time last week we had the pleasure of meeting Katie Thompson - the proud owner of 'Elaughant'! Katie sat down with BBC Northwest Tonight to share her story ??

This week Brian House and Trinity Hospice had an extra special visit from... Marnie Makes! Marnie came up to Blackpool specially to add more dedications to our in-memory Elmer, Pebbles. He now proudly displays nearly 700 names! Pebbles is due to arrive at Trinity Hospice - his forever home - in time for Memory Meadow on Sunday 28th July. If you're not attending this event, we'll be sharing more information soon on how you can come and visit him.

A massive congratulations to our lucky winner of the Elmer's Big Parade Blackpool raffle David Gregory, who has given our young patchwork Elmer his new home! ???? "He'll be going in the living room next to the fireplace. I couldn't believe it when I got the call to say I'd won. I had to listen to it twice, then my wife listened to it again, and then we realised we'd actually won and we were over the moon!" Thank you to everyone who entered our very special raffle. All proceeds will be going straight to Brian House Children's Hospice, where the money will make a real difference to children with life-limiting conditions.

Elmers Big Parade Blackpool is officially over but we’re still not over how incredible the journey has been! We’re busy adding up the final total raised because not only did we see generosity at our Auction, but in our pop-up shop, with our raffle, through one-off donations, and from our schools who did lots of fundraising on top of designing their Elmers. Keep following our page to find out how much has been raised for Brian House - this will be coming very soon! It's also the way to hear about our next trail ?? Although, Team Elmer are having a long and well-deserved rest first!

Are you sitting comfortably on the edge of your seat? This is the announcement you've all been waiting for! The winner of our small Classic Elmer sculpture is... ?? David Gregory! Huge congratulations David. We can't wait to find out where you're going to put your new patchwork friend ?? Massive congratulations also go to Maddie and Janet who've won our runner up prizes. Elmer goodie bags will be on their way to you shortly! All winners were contacted by phone last night from our Auction and were thrilled to find out that their names had been picked. A huge thank you to EVERYONE who entered the raffle and in turn, helped to raise over ￡9,000 for Brian House. Just incredible!