People say fond farewell to Swindon animal art trail

The Woods family from Swindon were among those to collect all 72 sculptures on the trail

People have been saying a fond farewell to an animal art trail which has been raising funds for a children's hospice.

The Big Dog Art Trail saw more than 70 sculptures installed across Swindon over the summer.

The trail came to a close on Sunday and the sculptures will be auctioned off for Julia's House charity on Tuesday.

Each "Swindog" was given an individual design by schools, youth groups and artists and were adopted by organisations from across the region.

The "Swindogs" of the art trail will be auctioned off for charity

The trail, which began in 15 July, invited people to discover new parts of Swindon by tracking down all 72 sculptures which were placed in parks, shopping streets, libraries and community centres.

Those who missed the trail were given a final chance to see the works of art all together in a farewell weekend at Swindon Steam Museum.

Papillon, a butterfly design by Caroline Parrott located at Lydiard Park, was voted the best in show by people who took part in the trail.

Her design featured 3,864 painted aluminium butterflies and took nine months to complete.

Jo and daughter Ava stand in front of Caroline Parrott's Papillon design which was voted best in show

"I'm really honoured and chuffed that everyone loved my dog," she said.

"The butterfly is the symbol of the children's hospice so I wanted to create something like that.

"I've been helping to care for my dad for the past couple of years and it highlighted to me how much respite is important and the hospice provides such a valuable resource for parents and carers," added Ms Parrott.

Artist Mr A Singh with his design called Creative Twist

Ms Parrott added she hoped Papillon would go to the person "who will love him the most".

"He can go inside or outside, or in someone's living room if they want to live with him," she said.

Charles Hanson will host a live auction on Tuesday evening at the Steam Museum, with funds going to Julia's House, which relies on public support for the majority of its funding.

The Kearns family said they enjoyed seeing the designs at the Steam Museum

Mike Bartlett, of Julia's House, said: "It's totally exceeded our expectations.

"The amount of people who have gone out and enjoyed it has been wonderful.

"Over 1,000 people collected all 72 sculptures."