A local woman who shared an image of her husband and his friend (pictured above) who both have dementia with one of Hitchin’s snowmen has won our photo competition.
Irene posted the photo on our Facebook page with the comment: “My husband and his friend both have dementia and enjoyed your trail. Great to have something like this accessible to all.” They have won a £10 voucher for Next Page Books in Hitchin.
A dozen giant sculptures of The Snowman have been decorating Hitchin town centre since November, creating a trail for people of all ages to follow – and made the Guardian's list of Christmas activities!
The snowmen are produced by Wild in Art, which put together sculpture trails around the UK, in collaboration with Penguin Random House Children’s and sponsored by local developer Cala Homes. Each of the 12 snowmen were uniquely designed by various artists across the UK and local schoolchildren, based on a line from ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas'. The 10th Snowman, located near The Pitcher and Piano, was painted by local artist Sarah Graham, depicting '10 lords a-leaping' with the addition of sweets, her trademark subject matter. The snowmen were mainly based in and around Market Square, with one outside North Herts Museum on Brand Street, one in Bancroft Park and one at Hitchin train station.
Jeanette Thompson, Legal and Community Service Director, said: “We thought Irene’s photo was lovely and a great tie in with Open Art Box, a local charity that provides friendly and engaging art projects for those affected by early-stage dementia which the trail has been raising awareness of. Walking with The Snowman has been extremely popular, showing just how important public art can be, and it was great to see all the photos of people posing with the differently painted snowmen.
“Thanks to Wild in Art and Penguin Random House Children’s for organising such a wonderful project and Cala Homes for sponsoring the trail. As well as local artist Sarah Graham who painted our special '10 lords a-leaping’ snowman, and everyone who got involved, it’s been a great initiative for the town.
“The council is still consulting on plans for the Churchgate Shopping Centre in Hitchin so if you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to fill out the survey to help us plan the town’s future – the survey will close on 5 February.”
Irene added: “It's really lovely to win the competition, especially as there were some brilliant photo entries. The trail was excellent. The large, bright, colourful sculptures were easy to spot, the distance between them not too far and with plenty to talk about on each one. All perfect for anyone, making it a truly accessible activity and fun afternoon out. The 11 pipers piping snowman was my husband's favourite because of the colours with the clever pattern clearly depicting the verse of the song.”
Sadly the snowmen have now gone back to the North Pole!
Get the latest news by email
You can subscribe to get news and service updates by email. It's free, you can choose which topics you’re interested in and you can unsubscribe at any time.