Owls fly the nest

Check out “owl” the fun we’ve had over the summer

Throughout July and August, 30 uniquely decorated owl sculptures stood in public spaces around Chichester and Arundel.

The trail was also accompanied by some fantastic owl-themed events, including Hoot on the Green – put on by Chichester BID, a fantastic family-friendly farewell event as well as a paint and prosecco evening!

Video from the Farewell Event

Thank you to everyone for getting involved!

Almost 6,000 of you downloaded our Big Hoot App, voted for your favourite owl, and picked up some amazing rewards on the way. Between you all, you clocked up a whopping 23,903,766 steps!!

From selfies with your favourite owl to pics of pooches and groups of owl-hunters, you all kindly shared your magical memories of the trail with us too on social media.

Another 30 smaller owls took up residence in local shops and businesses

The Little Hoot ran in parallel with the main art trail and allowed schools and groups to participate in this major cultural event for the area by decorating their own owls and raising funds for their local children’s hospice. We also welcomed local groups of school children to the hospice to learn about Chestnut Tree House, and they even got to meet some real-live owls too!

An event for everyone!

The trail was an accessible and fun day for everyone. Children from Chestnut Tree House took to the streets of Chichester to do some owl-spotting (top left), we had a fabulous bus-tour of Chichester and Arundel for our sponsors (top right), Chestnut Tree House Charity shops went owl-themed (bottom left) and a handful of children we support at Chestnut Tree House decorated their own owl!

Thank you for getting involved!

A huge ‘thank you’ to ALL the amazing fundraising that you got involved with over the summer for the Big Hoot! Everyone who fundraised over £21 for hospice care and collected all 30 large owls were rewarded with a shiny owl medal, and we had so many fantastic fundraisers that went above and beyond for their prize, including a creative running team who devised a special route around Arundel to visit each owl on an evening jog!

The auction

The event culminated in an online auction on 19 September, with hundreds of people joining to place their bids for their favourite owls. Bidding started at £500, with Night Owl by Jina Gelder Illustration selling first for £3,500. The owl – who spent the summer at Swanbourne Lake, Arundel – was sponsored by Worthing business Travel Places. Jina is a wildlife artist from the North East whose design was inspired by her love of exploring the outdoors with her family.