Shaun in the City trail criticised

The Shaun in the City trail has come under criticism for not including the less affluent areas of Bristol.

Critics shone a light on the distribution of the 70 decorated sheep after Bristol24/7 revealed that the BS8 postcode – which includes Clifton – will have 14 sheep, while the BS5 postcode – including Easton and Lawrence Hill – will have none.

Shaun in the City will run for six weeks this summer, starting on July 6, with an auction planned at the end to raise money for the Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital charity.

The Grand Appeal, which organises the trail, responded to criticism, saying each sculpture is sponsored by a local business or organisation.

It is understood the cost to sponsor a sheep was in excess of £8,000 and each location had to be inside a five-mile radius of the city.

The uneven distribution of sheep around the city was highlighted after a full list of 70 locations were revealed for the first time on Friday.

Critics – including Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy – argued that it sent a bad message and compounded claims that access to art in Bristol was “elitist”.

A #ShareTheShauns hashtag even appeared on Twitter, with the Labour Party and the Lib Dems among those to join the thread.

Great fundraising and fun, completely missing in #BS5. Hope #shauninthecity can reach ALL of Bristol. #ShareTheShauns pic.twitter.com/Te6ONwywnK

— Dr Thom Oliver (@Thomoli) May 18, 2015

McCarthy told Bristol/247: “My concern is that East Bristol and other parts miss out on much of what happens at a civic level in Bristol – eg Green Capital, Arts Council funding – and now this.

“I appreciate that the centre is always going to attract most funding and projects, because it’s the centre and because it has the venues. But we should be aiming to bring the rest of the city into the fold – taking art to them rather than always expecting them to travel.”

Stacy Yelland, coordinator at Easton and Lawrence Hill community group Up Our Street, said she understood the concerns, but added that sponsorship made it difficult to spread the sheep more widely.

“I can understand why people feel disappointed not to have a Shaun in the area. Gromit Unleashed was such a huge success that it would have been great to have Shaun in the heart of BS5,” she said.

“However as it is a privately sponsored fundraising project for the hospital it is hard to influence the locations if you don’t have the money to sponsor a sheep.

“BS5 was home to a few Gromits but I hope that this year people will visit other parts of their city to see Shaun.”

A statement issued by The Grand Appeal said: “The Shaun in the City Bristol trail is run and organised by The Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital charity, for the purpose of raising funds for sick babies and children at the hospital.

“There will be a trail of 70 sculptures in and around the centre of Bristol, as well as locations across the north, south, east and west of the City. The sculptures have been designed by a range of artists, designers and celebrities.

“The sculptures in each location have been sponsored by local businesses and organisations, without whose kind support we would not be able to deliver this free arts trail to raise funds for the charity.”

The Shaun in the City trail is free to the public and will take place from July 6 to August 31, after which the sculptures will be showcased in an exhibition before being auctioned to raise funds for The Grand Appeal. A similar auction, following the Gromit Unleashed trail in 2013, raised £2.3 million.