Shaun the Sheep auction to raise money for Newcastle hospice

Organisers hope the hand-painted models will raise thousands of pounds for charity

Forty hand-painted Shaun the Sheep sculptures will be auctioned at Newcastle Civic Centre to raise money for charity.

The uniquely decorated sheep, part of an art trail around the city's landmarks since July, will go under the hammer in aid of St Oswald's Hospice.

A number were vandalised and damaged during the summer months.

But fundraising manager Nikki Maguire said the "positivity" of the event outweighed the "needless" damage.

"We've seen so many people enjoy this years event, it's been absolutely amazing," she said.

"Dealing with the vandalism has been hard, as it was just so needless and disappointing - and clearly every time somebody damaged one of these sculptures, it took resources away from a local hospice."

Each uniquely decorated Shaun has a starting bid of £1,000

The Shaun The Sheep On the Tyne trail follows similar events, including the Great North Snowdogs trail in 2016 and Elmer's Great North Parade trail in 2019.

Ahead of Tuesday night's sale, more than 4,000 people attended a goodbye event in the civic centre at the weekend, where all the sheep models were displayed in one place.

Each lot, which has a starting price of £1,000, has already attracted online bids - some with a number of bidders, who will compete against those attending the auction in person.

Ms Maguire said she was hopeful the sheep models would beat the target of £182,000, set by the sale of the Elmer the elephant sculptures four years ago.

Thousands visited the civic centre at the weekend to view all the Shaun the Sheep models in one place

There were fears future trails would be in doubt after the Shaun sculptures were damaged, with some wrenched from their plinths and hurled on the ground.

Six sustained serious damage, while others were left with minor scratches which may have been accidental.

But, in spite of the "emotional impact" of the damage, the event has proved a major success for the charity, Ms Maguire said.

"Our plan was always to do them [the trails] every three years, as it takes that long to get sponsors and all the required permissions to site them across the city," she said.

"The Coronavirus pandemic meant we've had a longer gap before our Shaun the Sheep trail, but we've seen so much positivity this time, and how much people have loved it - so if our auction does well, I'm sure we'll consider doing it all again."

The hospice is hopeful of organising another character art trail in the future