GoGoDiscover prehistoric herd raises over £400,000 to help young people leaving care.
29 Sep 2022
After 10 weeks of entertaining more than half a million people across Norfolk and Norwich this year’s GoGoDiscover trail has come to a roarsome conclusion with 60 of the T.rex and mammoth sculptures raising a phenomenal £427,400 at auction.
Held for the first time at Norwich Cathedral, guests were welcomed with a drinks reception and music from the Norwich School Choir before heading into the Nave to be greeted by MC Rob Butler and acclaimed auctioneers Charles Hanson and Natasha Raskin-Sharpe, whose infectious energy led to some t.riffic bidding both in the room and online.
Wilco Director Richard Shortis helped get proceedings off to a great start with his £5000 bid on Elio by Lena Kibbler, saying that whoever matched his bid could keep the colourful mammoth, with the sculpture bringing in the first £10,000 of the night. “The charity does some incredible work with young people in care and I’m delighted to be able to help get the bids the up,” he explains. “We’ve supported Break for many years and this year we sponsored Automotosaurus, who has now moved in with us here at Wilco, and last night we were also able to take home the wonderful Prideasaurus!”.
The highest bid of the evening was £10,100 for Copper Mammoth by Daniel Bland, sponsored by The Black Horse with other sculptures going for an average £4600. T.rex Arcadia by Dandelion Mosaics also went for £10,000 and smaller Breakasuaurus Pup by Sally Adams raised an incredible £7500.
Overwhelmed at how much his sculpture sold for, David Bland said: 'It's been such a lovely experience working with everyone and the amount raised has absolutely blown me away but having Copper Mammoth selling for the highest bid really is the cherry on top!'
The trail, delivered by Break and in partnership with Wild in Art, aims to stamp out the mammoth expectations faced by young adults leaving the care system. The money raised from the 39 T.rex, 18 Steppe Mammoth and three Breakasauraus sculptures at the auction will go towards making sure every young person can have the life-long support they need to enjoy a bright and successful future.
“It was an absolutely fantastic evening, and it was amazing to see so many people be so generous,” comments Break Partnership Manager Eleanor Edge. “We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who dug deep and helped us raise such a phenomenal amount which will enable us to give young people the support they need when they leave care. We’d like to thank everyone who played a part in making the evening a success including auction sponsors Norfolk Cottages and Production Bureau, our auctioneers Charles and Natasha, and of course our trail partner Wild in Art, the talented artists, and our sponsors, without whom the trail would not have been possible.”
If you enjoyed the trail please consider donating to Break and you can keep up to date on all things GoGo by following our social channels, just search GoGoDiscover.
