Hospital provides paw-some sponsorship for local hospice

The magic of Christmas has come to Dewsbury in the form of the beloved Snowdog™ character.

Visiting the town as part of the ambitious free public art event organised by The Kirkwood, the sculpture stands outside Dewsbury Town Hall as one of 60 sculptures to encourage the community to explore different parts of West Yorkshire on the Wild in Art trail.

This was made possible thanks to the sponsorship from The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which provides acute care across Wakefield, Dewsbury and Pontefract. The Trust is sponsoring the Snowdog at Dewsbury to help provide vital funds for end-of-life care.

Len Richards, Chief Executive at the Trust said: “We work closely with The Kirkwood and share the same goal to improve the quality of life for local people, against all the odds. We were keen to sponsor a Snowdog to show our continuous support for the positive work the hospice does every day by focussing on what's important.

“We hope the Snowdog in Dewsbury town centre, will make more people aware of the wider range of services offered by The Kirkwood to support patients, carers and family members at every stage of illness.”

Each sculpture was designed by an artist and local organisations were able to pick the one they wanted to sponsor. The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust picked the Wildflowers design as they felt it paid homage to the NHS Green Plan and how the Trust is supporting the vital work to make the NHS net zero.

Jessica Moorhouse, artist, commented: “It was so nice to hear the Trust were going to be my sponsor as they are an amazing organisation that help so many people each year.

“Having their support has truly made the experience so worthwhile. I really hope this project can raise awareness about The Kirkwood and the Trust and what these wonderful organisations are all about. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to design a Snowdog for Kirkwood Hospice and it is such a pleasure to be a part of the project.”

The trail starts on Friday 2 September, and will run for eight weeks in total.

To find out more about the project and how you can download your trail map, please visit: www.snowdogskirklees.org.uk