Artists hop to The Mall Luton in preparation for Keech Hospice Care’s Short Tail Trail

Following the huge success of Keech’s Big Trunk Trail in 2021, Keech Hospice have once again partnered with Wild In Art to bring another family friendly event to the town of Luton. The Mall Luton, alongside with Luton BID, are supporting this event as the Business Presenting Partner.

Whilst the previous trail saw a bright and colourful herd of elephants take over the town, this time over 90 beautiful hares and three adorable tortoises can be found at landmarks around Luton. The trail is set to launch on 6th July 2024 for families to enjoy throughout the summer, concluding on 12th September.

The trail will once again be supporting local charity Keech Hospice Care, who provide care for adults and children (as well as their loved ones) in the surrounding area of Bedfordshire, as well as Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes for children. Keech Hospice relies on 70% of its funding from the local community and its supporters, so raising awareness and funds has never been more imperative to ensure those facing a life-limiting illness can receive excellent care and support.

At the end of the event, the sculptures will be auctioned off to the highest bidders to raise funds for Keech Hospice Care, to ensure they can continue with their specialist care for those in need.

The Mall Luton is once again collaborating with local artist Beverley Sweetman for their sponsored hare, who is renowned for her bright and colourful designs inspired by Mother Nature. Beverley has begun work on the creation of the hare at the studio within The Mall, alongside many of the other artists, and whilst her designs are still currently top secret those passing by may be able to sneak a peek at the elusive creatures!

Beverley commented, “I am delighted to be working with The Mall again to paint a hare sculpture for The Short Tail Trail. It was so much fun creating the Elephant for the Big Trunk Trail three years ago, and a privilege to have this on display in the shopping centre, so to be sponsored by The Mall again is an honour.”

Beverley continued, “The design for the hare has been created to encompass all that is great about Luton. Celebrating its history, heritage, and culture. Inspiration has been taken from Luton’s coat of arms which has a wheatsheaf, rose, thistle and a beehive. All of these elements are included in the design, entwined with the carnival, industries that have shaped the town and the diversity of the people that live and work here. The design is quite detailed and has many elements to hand paint, it will likely take around 40 - 50 hours!”

The Mall will be unveiling the completed hare alongside the other sponsors and artists before the trail kicks off on social media, and the community can follow Beverley’s work with updates set to be posted throughout.

Lavinia Douglass, Marketing Manager at The Mall Luton, commented, “We are thrilled to once again be working with the fabulous Beverley Sweetman on our hare for The Short Tail Trail. We are long time supporters of Keech Hospice Care and jumped at the opportunity to support them again by sponsoring a local artist to showcase their creative interpretation, and Beverley seemed like an obvious choice to us given her fantastic work on our elephant in 2021.”

Lavinia continues, “We are very proud to be supporting the Short Tail Trail alongside Luton BID as Business Presenting Partners and are delighted to give a warm welcome to the other artists participating at our studio space here at The Mall. We cannot wait to see the hares and tortoises in all their glory once the trail commences in July. Watch this space for more updates coming soon!”

Further information can be found on The Mall’s website.