A HOST of new visitors are set to waddle into Southend as part of an exciting new art trail backed by the Echo. 

Following the successes of the Herd In The City and Hares About Town events for Havens Hospices, a new Waddle-on-Sea trail has been created. 

In partnership with Wild in Art, the trail, which the Echo is a proud media sponsor for, will arrive in the city next summer, in 2025. 

It will see sculptures of penguins, accompanied by huddles of baby “chick” statues, pop up across Southend.

The art trail is the Hospices' third following the successes of Herd In The City and Hares About Town.The art trail is the Hospices' third following the successes of Herd In The City and Hares About Town. (Image: Main Media)

 

The bigger sculptures will be sponsored by local businesses and created by professional artists, while the baby sculptures will be decorated by schools, community groups and organisations.

At the end of the trail, the art will be auctioned to raise money for Fair Havens and Little Havens, which help thousands of families with free hospice care.

Waddle-on-Sea follows in the footsteps of previous art trails in 2021 and 2023, which have raised more than £1million for hospice care.

Vanessa Harvey, project manager from Havens Hospices, said: “Due to the stomping success of Herd In The City, I’m delighted that we can bring yet another sculpture trail to Southend, helping make art accessible to all.

“We’ll be turning the High Street and seafront into an immersive gallery, leading the way for visitors to get up close with the stunning creations, many of which will be from local artists.”

 

The large penguins will be sponsored by local businesses and created by professional artists while the baby sculptures will be adopted and decorated by schools, community groups and organisations.The large penguins will be created by professional artists while the baby sculptures will be adopted and decorated by schools, community groups and organisations. (Image: Main Media)

 

Managing director and co-founder of Wild in Art, Charlie Langhorne, said: “It’s great to be teaming up once again with Havens Hospices to create this new art trail - our third in the city.

“The penguin is a wonderful sculpture and I have no doubt that it will capture everyone’s imagination and bring artists, young people, communities and businesses together to create something very special in Southend next summer.”

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The sculptures, designed by creative company 6rs, were unveiled in April at a secret event at The Roslin Beach Hotel.

Artists can get involved and submit their design ideas on the trail’s official website waddleonsea.co.uk

Organisations, schools and community groups looking to adopt their own baby penguin sculpture, or sponsor a large sculpture, can also visit the website to get more information.