“Robins appear when loved ones are near”

Cransley Hospice Trust has partnered with talented local potter Louise Crookenden-Johnson to create a 25th-anniversary art installation “Robins appear when loved ones are near”. The anniversary art installation will be made up of 500 individually hand-crafted limited edition clay robins at the newly refurbished Chester House Estate in June.

These are not just robins, they are limited edition robins, each stamped with a number between 1 and 500 and designed as a bird feeder with a hollow back for bird seed to attract other feathered friends into gardens, to bring a little joy even on the darkest of days.

The 500 robins are available to pre-order and purchase via the Cransley Hospice Trust website before they make up a stunning spectacle at Chester House in a design to be revealed on the 15^th of June. The in-memory installation will be free for anyone to visit and enjoy, and to remember their loved ones. Pre-purchased robins will then be available for collection to fly off to their new homes and gardens.

Louise Gurney, Community Fundraising and Events Development Manager at Cransley Hospice Trust said “An installation of this kind is a first for Cransley Hospice Trust and for the area, and we are hoping to raise around £20,500 from sales, donations and corporate support. We’re delighted to be partnered again with Louise, she already makes the wonderful comfort pebbles for our children’s memory boxes and we knew that her skills and creativity would be perfect for this special local exhibition to mark the 25^th anniversary of Cransley Hospice. The funds raised will enable us to continue to support the specialist care and services provided by the hospice and in the community by the hospice at home team. Together we can be there for the next 25 years”.

Louise Crookenden-Johnson said “It’s been an honour to be involved in this very special commemorative in-memory installation for Cransley Hospice Trust, and to be supporting the work that they do for the community of North Northamptonshire. It’s been fun working with the team to create the robin and I’m really looking forward to putting the installation together and seeing all 500 birds flock together for the finished design at Chester House in the summer. I think it’ll be quite a sight!”

The robins are available to purchase, via the Cransley Hospice Trust website www.cransleyhospice.org.uk and cost £25 each. Cransley Hospice is hoping to raise an additional £250,000 during the anniversary year to support and develop end-of-life care for the community of North Northamptonshire, so any additional donations or support will be very gratefully received. For more information about the 25^th
anniversary and how you can support the charity please contact their fundraising team at 03000 274040 or email fundraising@cransleyhospice.org.uk.