Shaun the Sheep in the Heart of Kent art trail brought thousands of visitors to Maidstone

As the colourful Shaun the Sheep Sculptures make their way to their new homes after helping raise an incredible £265,250 when they were auctioned off, we can now reveal the results of a survey which show the positive impact the art trail had on visitors, the Maidstone community and the town’s economy.

Feedback from members of the public who downloaded the App, and visitors who completed the survey on the Trail website are phenomenal. Not only was ‘Shaun the Sheep in the Heart of Kent’ a huge success in providing a free fun way for families to enjoy Maidstone and its attractions over the summer but it also helped raise awareness and vital funds for the Hospice.

The recent post trail survey commissioned by Wild in Art shows that the trail was enjoyed by 217,859 visitors – with 84% spending more time in Maidstone because of the trail.

The 9 week long art trail had a total economic impact of just over £6.8 million which contributed £2.07 million of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the local economy.

The sculpture trail encouraged more people to get out and enjoy the outdoors and trail goers who used the pedometer within the app walked over 60 million steps and covered over 27,000 miles.

The event highlighted how people enjoyed spending more time out in the fresh air with their friends and family with 80% of respondents saying the trail encouraged them to get outdoors more and 87% said it encouraged them to walk more than usual.

Many Maidstone businesses also benefited from the art trail with 55% of respondents saying they also went shopping, while 74% said they spent money in food and beverage outlets. 58% also visited museums and other attractions.

Over two thirds of visitors enjoying the trail were from Maidstone, but the event also bought in visitors from further afield including from other areas of Kent, the Southeast and London and from overseas including New Zealand, the US and Europe.

One of our aims was to bring a fun, accessible art trail to Maidstone whilst boosting the local economy and helping to discover the history and heritage of Maidstone. We’re delighted that 97% of local residents were really proud to have the trail taking place in their town. In addition to this 87% of respondents said the trail created a sense of community which is so important to all of us at the hospice. The feedback we received from everyone involved has been overwhelmingly positive and the trail was clearly the highlight of a lot of people’s Summers in Maidstone. I would like to personally thank everyone involved and for the kindness and support we have received throughout.

Ann-Marie Kelly Director of Income Generation

We were thrilled to see the figures from the evaluation, along with the incredible amount raised at the auction. Our trails are designed to get the public to explore their local area, visit places they might not have been to before whilst spending time together, getting some exercise and having fun. Thank you to everyone who visited the trail over the summer and supported Heart of Kent Hospice.

Charlie Langhorne, Managing Director and Co-founder at Wild in Art