Vandalised Shaun sculpture raises record amount at auction

A sheep sculpture left lying in the road by vandals raised a record amount for Martlets Hospice at auction last night.

Bloom, by artist Faye Bridgwater, was the first of several Shaun the Sheep sculptures to be damaged or vandalised during this year’s art trail.

But it was quickly repaired and put back on its plinth by The Pepperpot on Queens Park Road, and last night raised £25,000 at the auction, held at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange.

The most paid for one of the snowdogs on the first Martlets art trail was £22,000 and the most paid for a snail on the second trail was £11,000.

In total, the auction raised £385,000 – including £40,000 from eight bids of £5,000 each to commission eight personalised little Shauns.

This is also a record-breaking amount, with the snails raising £300,000 and the Snowdogs £310,000.

Martlets ambassador Norman Cook aka DJ Fatboy Slim played a set.

The charity had already raised £44,000 from tickets sales over the farewell weekend from 6,750 visitors.

The funds raised will help the Sussex hospice charity continue its work caring for local people facing the toughest of times.

Martlets’ Director of Income Generation Tanya Hunt says: “We’ve been blown away by the success of the Shaun the Sheep auction. We knew there was a lot of affection for the sculptures but to raise more than £385,000 is incredible.

“Every penny raised will support us to keep caring and helping people do what they love with the time they have.”

The Shaun by the Sea trail is Martlets’ most popular to date. The trail app was downloaded more than 11,000 times, with thousands of people ticking off the sculptures they spotted and winning rewards from different locations.