Yahoo News We’ve seen toads, moths and puffins in Hull – now it’s the turn of giant rats to raise eyebrows as well as funds for a hospital charity
“The most radical animal sculpture trail yet” is to be unleashed in Hull – and it features 6ft-tall decorated rats.
Following on from the success of the Larkin Toads, A Moth for Amy and most recently Puffins Galore!, A Mischief of Rats will see up to 50 giant artist-decorated rat sculptures finding homes across Hull and East Yorkshire in the summer of 2025. Hull Trains has just announced it is partnering with the exhibition, which will be a tribute to the Sixties Hull band, The Rats, whose line-up included guitarist Mick Ronson, who was also famously part of David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars.
The launch of the A Mischief of Rats project coincided with the annual Humber Business Week. The event’s chair Pat Coyle said: “It was exciting to have the sculpture trail launched during Humber Business Week to celebrate the life and times of one of Hull’s great music legends, Mick Ronson.”
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All proceeds raised from A Mischief of Rats will go towards the Daisy Appeal. The charity based at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham supports the detection of cancer, heart disease and dementia through highly advanced PET-CT scanning techniques.
Rick Welton, the project’s co-director, said: “This is the most radical animal sculpture trail yet.” The previous animal sculpture trails have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities; similarly, the rats are being sponsored and a grand charity auction at the end of the exhibition will raise much-needed funds to support the vital work of the Daisy Appeal.
Rick said: “All our trails depend on developing partnerships with the business community and other organisations in the area. We know that these trails attract thousands of visitors to see the sculptures, with increased footfall to shopping areas, to local attractions, to out-of-the-way places.”
Clare Huby, co-director, said: “The inspiration for A Mischief of Rats was Hull musician Mick Ronson. Mick is probably best known as lead guitarist with David Bowie’s ‘Spiders from Mars’ but his home band was ‘The Rats’ who played gigs in the late 60s and early 70s.
“Sadly, he died from cancer, aged just 46. So, Mick and the local Hull and East Yorkshire music scene, will be one of the themes that we will invite our artists to follow in their designs. Other themes will be health and medical science, rats in literature and the media, rats, ships and the sea, and to give our artists’ imaginations free rein - rats made beautiful! Our sponsors will be able to choose their favourite from a gallery of amazing rat designs.”
Rat locations will be carefully selected to attract visitors to less well-known places as well as encouraging them to spend time tracking down rats in towns and villages, resorts and attractions across the region. Businesses already on board include Beverley jewellers Guest & Phillips; development company Wykeland, the area’s tourism partnership Visit Hull & East Yorkshire; logistics company Neil & Brown and engineering company Strata Group.
Lou Mendham, service delivery director at Hull Trains, said: “Local communities are at the heart of what we do at Hull Trains. We’re delighted that we can support such a unique and exciting project like this one, which will also attract thousands of extra tourists to visit Hull next summer.”
Claire Levy, fundraising manager for the Daisy Appeal, said “We are really excited that A Mischief of Rats will be raising substantial funds in such an imaginative and high-profile initiative. The auction proceeds will be used to support our cutting-edge research and to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and facilities that are so important to improving the life-chances of patients living with cancer, heart disease and dementia in our region.”
To find out more or to sponsor a rat sculpture, contact Rick Welton by emailing rick@amischiefofrats.co.uk or by calling 07411 272367 or by visiting the website amischiefofrats.co.uk
