Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, one of Scotland’s largest mass participation art events currently taking Dundee by storm, is heading north as the National Tour visits Inverness. The Highland city will host 10 of the uniquely designed Oor Wullie sculptures pop up in various locations around the city centre from Monday 8th – Sunday 14th August, creating Inverness’ very own miniature Bucket Trail.
With support from High Life Highland to find several locations for the sculptures to visit, there will be four Oor Wullie sculptures at Inverness Botanic Gardens, two at Inverness Library, one at Inverness Leisure Centre, two at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, one at Highland Archive Centre and one at Inverness Railway Station.
The week-long visit to Inverness is part of a National Tour, which has seen the adventurous Oor Wullie sculptures, including Wullie Wallace, inspired by the legendary Scot, William Wallace, Sudger Wullie, an army inspired Wullie and a very special Tunnocks Tea-Cake Oor Wullie sculpture, visit cities across Scotland throughout the summer.
Thousands of people have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the sculptures in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Perth, and the sculptures will travel to Inverness before a brief stop in St Andrews, finally arriving back in Dundee for the final few weeks of the Bucket Trail, which finishes on 27th August.
Launching in the City of Discovery at the end of June, this one-of-a-kind project has introduced 55 sculptures, all individually designed and painted by an array of local and international artists, to the streets of Dundee and will be in place for ten weeks to raise money for The ARCHIE Foundation’s Tayside Children’s Hospital Appeal.
Charity organisers The ARCHIE Foundation, along with partners Wild In Art, DC Thomson, and some help from sponsors John Clark Motor Group with the use of their vans, have been transporting this special group of sculptures around the country, with just one week in each location, and organisers are advising people to get along to the different locations by the end of next weekend, so they don’t miss out on their chance to capture a selfie with the touring wee scamps.
Ian Murray, Chief Executive at High Life Highland, commented:
“High Life Highland is really excited at having been able to be involved in bringing Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail to the City of Inverness.
“To really engage with the fun of the trail, we’re going to be offering individuals the chance to be entered into a draw to win three months free membership to all our facilities if they post a selfie with one of the Oor Wullies on our High Life Highland Twitter page. We’ve also teamed up with Cobb’s coffee shops located in Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and Inverness Botanic Gardens and Nursery to offer a free coffee to anyone who locates at least five of the Oor Wullie statues.
“This is a really vibrant and exciting exhibition to be taking place across Inverness and I am only too happy that some of our High Life Highland facilities across the city will be hosting the scupltures.”
Cassie Thompson, Head of Fundraising for The ARCHIE Foundation, commented:
“As organisers, we have been delighted to be able to take Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail on a tour across Scotland and be able to bring the excitement to our next stop – Inverness. An incredible amount of work has gone into this project, which is all to help raise money for The ARCHIE Foundation’s Tayside Children’s Hospital Appeal.
Neil Cooney, Project Manager for Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail added:
“The response we’ve had from the City of Dundee and across Scotland since the Bucket Trail launched has been phenomenal and I’m sure the Oor Wullies will be delighted to meet as many people as possible during their time up in the beautiful Highlands! We are very excited to be able to create a mini trail around the city and we would like to thank High Life Highland for helping us to find several temporary homes for the Oor Wullie sculptures over the next week.”
At the end of the trail, on 13th September, all the sculptures will be sold at an auction in Dundee, where businesses, individuals, enthusiastic Oor Wullie fans and even those overseas can bid for the chance to call their favourite sculpture their own. All proceeds from the special auction will go to The ARCHIE Foundation’s appeal to raise funds to create a brand new twin operating theatre paediatric surgical suite for the Tayside Children’s Hospital at Ninewells.
To find out more about Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, visit www.oorwulliebuckettrail.com
For further information about the work of The ARCHIE Foundation, visit www.archiefoundationhome.org.uk
