Penguin charity boost
Home Bargains and Go Penguins have boosted Liverpool Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal by an astonishing £20,000 – just weeks into the public art extravaganza and months before its gala auction is due to take place.
The profits were generated by the sale of miniature paint-your-own penguin sets which were sold in Home Bargains stores across the country to raise money for the Charity Appeal.
The penguin art sets literally ‘flew off’ the shelves and have now completely sold out within a month of going on sale.
Joe Morris, operations director at Home Bargains, said: “The paint-your-own penguin competition was a great way to raise money for charity while giving our customers the chance to play an active part in the Go Penguins project. They were a massive hit with our customers; we could have easily sold two or three times the amount we ordered.”
A specially designed charity penguin signalling the £20,000 donation will be handed over to Liverpool’s Lord Mayor on Tuesday, December 15 at 12.45pm in Liverpool Town Hall.
Tickets will be going on sale on 5 January for the gala Go Penguins Charity Auction, to be held on 4 February 2010. The auction is expected to net an even bigger windfall for the Lord Mayor’s charities along with WWF, the world’s leading conservation body.
Councillor Mike Storey, Liverpool Lord Mayor, said: ‘’I’m delighted that the Go Penguins initiative has already made such a big contribution to charities in Merseyside in such a short space of time. They’ve put a huge smile on the face of the city this Christmas and by virtue of the gala auction they will spread even greater pleasure to some very deserving causes.’’
Home Bargains has also sponsored the hugely ambitious Go Penguins schools initiative, the biggest schools art project in the UK this year. More than half of the city’s schools have been involved – meaning a staggering 45,000 schoolchildren have engaged with the project while learning about climate change.
The discounter has additionally sponsored three street-sized penguins (Nos 8 Global Warning by Ines Dearman at Liverpool Arena, 121 Around the World in Many Ways and 16 Martyoshka by Joanne Risley at Albert Dock) which are currently delighting the visitors and residents of Merseyside, along with their other 144 siblings and 13 special schools’ colonies until 10 January 210.
Originally commissioned by Liverpool City Council as the finale to their Year of the Environment, Go Penguins is being delivered by Wild In Art, the people who wowed the Capital of Culture year with the hugely successful Go Superlambananas.
For more information about Go Penguins visit www.gopenguins.co.uk or www.homebargains.co.uk
