Sewell on the go supports new local sculpture trail

After the success of 2022’s Puffin trail, we’re proud to be supporting yet another fantastic sculpture trail, that takes visitors around the Hull and East Yorkshire landscape while raising money and awareness of a worthwhile cause.

A Mischief of Rats is the latest local sculpture trail, with previous trails sending people searching for toads, puffins and moths, each with their own individual links to the region. Altogether, there are over 45 rats to find based throughout Hull city centre and reaching as far as Pocklington, Brandesburton, Sproatley and Hedon.

Why is it rats?

We’ve heard that lots of people are unsure why rats were the chosen subject of this trail. The inspiration for the long-tailed sculptures comes from local 60s & 70s band, the Rats. Band members were Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey, who went on to become some of Hull’s most famous exports as David Bowie’s band, The Spiders From Mars.

The charity the trail supports is the Daisy Appeal, which provides life-saving technology to support people living with cancer, heart disease and dementia. Sadly, Mick and Trevor both died of cancer, so project organisers felt the charity benefitting should support early diagnosis of these diseases.

About the Daisy Appeal

The Daisy Appeal act as a bridge between academia and the NHS. Through research, the Daisy Appeal are not only addressing immediate healthcare needs but also paving the way for future innovations.

Find out more about their work here: https://daisyappeal.org/about/

Our sponsored rat

The rat we choose to sponsor is called ‘Thank you for the music’ by local artist Emma Garness. Emma’s design is about celebrating and expressing how music makes you feel, which is relevant to Hull’s vibrant live music scene. Our relationship with Emma started a few years ago when she took on a bare wall at our Chanterlands Avenue store and transformed it into a stunning mural to help pique interest and encourage conversation amongst the local community and visitors about the collection of rainwater at the store.

The mural was part of our work with Community Action for Water on their project MAGIC to support their research into how Hull can become more flood resilient. The project looks exclusively at soaking up water in ordinary spaces, and how residents and local businesses can do their bit to support a safer future for the city.

You can find our sponsored rat in Saturday Market in Beverley.

You can find out more about A Mischief of Rats, and download the app here: https://amischiefofrats.co.uk/