The Panda Meander sculpture trail will arrive in Cambridge next Spring, as part of a unique fundraising campaign.
Vibrant giant panda sculptures will guide visitors to Cambridge’s most iconic landmarks – and raise money for Cambridge Children’s Hospital - when they hit the city’s streets next year. The Panda Meander trail is being brought to life by one of the project’s campaign partners, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), alongside creative producers Wild in Art, with the aim of raising money for transformative children’s healthcare projects.
Standing at 140 centimetres high and 100 centimetres wide, there will be between 30 and 40 of the big bears along the route. Each will have a black and white head with bodies that are adorned with designs by local artists. Mini pandas, designed by local children as part of the charity’s Learning and Community Programme, will also feature as part of the trail.
Celebrating the trail’s launch at the Museum of Zoology in March, ACT’s Chief Executive Shelly Thake said:
Our 2027 animal sculpture trail will raise money that will help us deliver projects that will transform care for children treated at Addenbrooke’s both now and in the future, including helping us to build a new children’s hospital that will be the first in the world to fully integrate mental and physical health of young patients.
The East of England is the only region in the UK without a specialist children’s hospital. Based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the construction is due to be complete by 2030. Spread over five floors, the new hospital will include 108 inpatient beds, 16 paediatric intensive care beds, 42 day-case beds, seven operating theatres, imaging and diagnostics, hospital school and a 5,000 square metre research institute.
The panda was chosen to reflect ACT’s funding of the Paediatric and Neonatal Decision Support and Retrieval Service (PaNDR). The service operates a 24-hour telephone line for support and advice to 17 hospitals in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex, as well as the critical care transfer to specialist centres and repatriation closer to home.
Shelly Thake added: “This is the first time a panda has appeared in a Wild in Art sculpture trail in a town or city anywhere in the world and we are confident this trail will attract thousands of excited visitors and raise lots of money for our hospitals.”
Cheffins, the Cambridge-based professional services and auctioneering firm, is the Lead Trail Partner for the Panda Meander Trail. Last year, as part of their 200th anniversary celebrations, they raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to create a brand-new, permanent playroom at Cambridge Children’s Hospital.
Businesses and schools who would like to sponsor a Panda can get in touch by emailing: arttrail@act4addenbrookes.org.uk
Head to the official website for the Panda Meander Trail at: www.pandameander.co.uk (opens in a new tab)