Andersen Press raises over £1m with Elmer art auction

Andersen Press and art events company Wild in Art have now raised more than £1m for UK charities after a recent auction secured £312,750 for the Heart of Kent Hospice. 

The auction was held on 9th September at the Mercure in Maidstone - the culmination of a three-year project in the Kent town. Fifty-one sculptures based on David McKee’s colourful elephant character Elmer were decorated by a variety of artists and formed a free, public trail over the summer, before being sold in aid of the hospice charity.

The highest lot was local artist Ralph Steadman’s piece "Elly-do, Elly-don’t, Elly-dance!" (pictured right) which sold for £15,500. 

Since the partnership started in 2019, it has raised £1,072,000. The art trail project will continue into 2022, with funds being raised for the Northern Ireland Hospice in Belfast, when a new herd of Elmers will feature on the streets of the Belfast.

Paul Black, PR and brand director at Andersen Press, said: “When we set out with our friends at Wild in Art to stage Elmer’s Big Art Parades we could have only dreamed of raising these incredible amounts of money – to cross the £1m mark in Maidstone was a brilliant achievement, and we hope we can continue to raise lots of much-needed money for charities as the art trails land in towns and cities all over the world.”