Little Amal: Wigan welcomes giant refugee puppet to town

Large crowds gathered in Wigan to welcome Little Amal

Hundreds of people gathered in Wigan to welcome a giant puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian refugee to the town.

Little Amal, who is 11.5ft (3.5m) tall, was met by crowds of people on Sunday as she nears the end of her journey.

The puppet has travelled almost 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from the Turkish-Syrian border to the UK.

She was created as part of an initiative to raise awareness of the plight of young migrants and to "rewrite the narrative about refugees".

The project, called The Walk, is from the team that reproduced Calais refugee camp The Jungle on stage.

The puppet has travelled almost 5,000 miles from the Turkish-Syrian border

Andy Burnham shook hands with Little Amal

Little Amal, which is Arabic for hope, started her journey in Gaziantep, Turkey, on 27 July and has travelled across Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in the UK on 19 October.

She was met in Wigan by hundreds of people who had braved the wet weather to catch a glimpse of the puppet including the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.

Crowds brave the wet weather to take a selfie with Little Amal

The puppet has been constructed by the Handspring Puppet Company

Little Amal has been constructed by the Handspring Puppet Company, which previously made the equine stars of the stage version of War Horse.

The puppet, created from a moulded cane body and carbon fibre head, arms and legs, needs to be operated by three people - one on a pair of stilts inside its body, and two others beside it moving its arms.

Little Amal will travel to Rochdale on Tuesday before completing her journey in Manchester on Wednesday.

A free outdoor event, titled When the Birds Land and produced by Manchester International Festival, will be held at Castlefield Bowl at 19:00 GMT.

Little Amal is now making her way from Wigan to Rochdale

The puppet needs to be operated by three people

Little Amal finishes her journey in Manchester on Wednesday

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