The Lions of Bath pride raises over £65,000 for charity

Lions of Bath 2010

Lions of  Bath 2010 was a public art event for the World Heritage city of Bath, which saw 100 life-size lion sculptures  displayed in pride of place in locations all over the city from May-September 2010 and then auctioned, raising over £65,000 for local charities, including the children's charity "Off the Record", which gives vital support to hundreds of young carers aged 5-18.

The sculptures were individually designed and decorated in a wide range of styles, from grafitti to abstract and mosaic, by a wide range of talented artists from Bath, Scotland, London, France, Moscow and China, including well known figures such as Sir Peter Blake, Rolf Harris, Cath Kidston and Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams.

The lions were kindly sponsored by businesses, organisations, local communities and individuals, including event sponsors Lord Bath of Longleat and Deloitte, and musical lion sponsors Midge Ure, Jamie Cullum and Peter Gabriel.

The Lions of Bath safari maps encouraged thousands of residents and visitors to explore the city whilst tracking down all 100 lions in the pride and emails were received from all over the world expressing their delight and surprise at discovering the giant pride prowling the World Heritage city.

A huge thank you to all the fabulous artists and sponsors of the Lions of Bath public art event for your support and artistic input in 2010 and to the new owners of the pride for sharing your home, garden or business with these wonderful majestic beasts. 

Thanks also to the residents of Bath who kindly shared their beautiful city with the giant pride.
 
Swans of Wells 2012

The Lions of Bath team is now organising a similar venture for the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset - known as England's smallest city - which will involve the public display of 60 giant swan sculptures, each decorated by different artists and displayed in a colourful, contemporary sculpture trail around Wells and the surrounding countryside this summer, from 1st June - 1st September and then auctioned to raise funds for local charities.

Following the flock of fabulous 5ft swans will be a great way of spending several days this summer - a fun and free activity for all the family!

Swans were chosen to reflect the famous resident swans of the 800 year old Bishop's Palace in Wells, where swans have been ringing a bell to be fed for over 200 years!  As swans are also known as a royal bird, with all Mute swans officially owned by the Queen, the Swans of Wells 2012 event is in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and most of the flock will be on display in and around Wells during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend on 2nd & 3rd June.

For more information about the flock, please visit www.swansofwells.com.



Lion sculptures

Paint your own" mini-lions and several full size, 6ft lions are available from the online shop, as are the Lions of Bath books, posters featuring all 100 lions, silver lion necklaces, t-shirts and other lion merchandise at special discount prices via the website's online shop.  Alternatively, email [email protected] for more information.


Mini and midi-lion replicas enjoying the Autumn shineshine...

Two 6ft painted lions available..

A pair of the fabulous Lions of Bath 2010 event sculptures are now available for sale. 

These are "Big Game", the sleek black conservation lion with "trophy-style" head, and the Man United footballing lion "Wayne Roar-ney", which spent last summer in pride of place guarding the 15th century Bath Abbey.

For further details please contact [email protected] or phone 01225 840338
                                                                    
                                                                                             Big Game

Wayne Roar'ney


 

Full-size lions guard the Royal Crescent           
                                                                       photo: Celia Mannings
Lions Roar Goodbye
 
One of the highlights of the Lions of Bath event was the popular "Lions Roar Goodbye" weekend, when all 104 of the majestic 6ft lions were displayed in front of Bath's world famous Royal Crescent before the charity auctions.

The wonderful sight of the giant pride glinting in sunshine in front of the magnificent Crescent backdrop was a truly memorable experience, enjoyed by 10,000 visitors who came to see the 100 individually decorated beasts gathered together for the first and last time.

Charity Auctions 

Two charity auctions were held in October at the magnificent Georgian Assembly Rooms and at the Komedia Club in Bath, where 75 of the magnificent lion sculptures were sold.  Another 26 lions were sold in online auctions.

The stars of the auctions were Euan the Lion, one of the four "bonus" lions, sponsored by Bath advertising agency Ideas of the Mind, which sold for £15,000; Wordsworth, with his coat of 6,000 scrabble tiles sponsored by Bath product design agency Wild & Wolf ; Quercus Viridis, the beautifully painted "oak" lion, sponsored by Aecern Structures and painted by Bath artist Lisa Wooding; and of course the fabulous Elvis lion, known as the King of the Rock 'n Roll Jungle, created by Eric Anderson.

The rest of the lions were sold online and have headed off to homes as far away as Texas, Biarritz and Prague, with just two left looking for a home.  Wayne Roarney is currently residing with the Mayor of Wells, England's smallest town. sale, until he is sold and Big Game is living with his sponsor, Walker Jansseune Design in Bath. 

Please email [email protected] for more information if you would like to impress your friends and colleagues with a magnificent contemporary lion sculpture for your home, garden or business.

Lions of Bath charities

Net profits from the Lions of Bath event have been donated to several charities, including £27,000 to the children's charity "Off the Record" to pay for a full time worker to support hundreds of young carers aged 5-18; £13,500 to the Quartet Community Foundation, which distributes funds to a wide range of community projects throughout the South West and is celebrating its 25th anniversary later this year, and £3,500 to the Mayor of Bath's Relief Fund, which gives sums of up to £250 to those in real need in the city.

£15,000 was donated to The Born Free Foundation through the sale of the Ideas of the Mind sponsored "Euan the Lion".  These funds will build 15 "bomas" in Kenya, which protect cattle at night and therefore reduce lion-human conflict, and £1,500 from the sale of Longleat's lions was donated to the wildlife charity Tusk. 

Funds of between £250-£1,000 from the sale of the remaining lions were distributed to a wide range of local Bath charities, including Friends of Young Carers, Mentoring Plus, Time2Share, The Play Bus, Bath City Farm, Bath Play Rangers, Wansdyke Play Rangers, the RUH Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit, Commit2Africa, Riding for the Disabled and Community Arts Therapies.


The Lion of Judah, seen here surveying Bath from the Royal Crescent was bought by a care home in Exeter

Lion locations

The city of Bath provided a stunning backdrop for the lion sculptures over the summer.  Some were positioned by the 16th century Bath Abbey, others in the Roman Baths, in front of the Royal Crescent, in The Circus, around the new Southgate  centre, a couple were on guard at Bath Spa train station, others were lookouts on the top of buildings, on ledges, in parks, courtyards and some other rather unexpected locations... 

Lions of Bath Safari maps were available from the Lions of Bath shop in Milsom Place in the heart of the city as well and other outlets including the Bath, Corsham and Bradford on Avon Tourist Information Centres, Waterstones, The Framing Workshop, Hampton International, the Festivals Office, Bath Spa Train Station and the Oldfield Park Bookshop.

"The Bath Lion", sponsored by Lord Bath of Longleat, in pride of place outside Bath Abbey, with "Wayne Roarney"  in the background...