Last sheep joins the flock as OneFamily donates £10,000 for ewe-nique sculpture

Brighton-based financial services company, OneFamily, has made a donation of £10,000 to local hospice, Martlets, for their own hand-painted Shaun the Sheep sculpture.

The ewe-nique and colourful sheep has been painted by local artist, Danni Smith, in OneFamily’s office allowing colleagues to watch the design come to life. Within the artwork, OneFamily’s Brighton office can be spotted alongside iconic seafront features such as the Brighton Pier, Hove Beach Huts and the i360.

Aptly named ‘Pebble’ by the OneFamily team, the sculpture also shows off the city’s diverse and wonderful range of local wildlife from the kelp on the bottom of the seabed right up to the city’s infamous chip-stealing seagulls in the sky. The art is brimming with colourful creatures, including a jellyfish, starfish, crab and even a seal peeping its head above the water.

In last year’s ‘Shaun by the Sea’ art trail, OneFamily Sponsored Danni’s entry named ‘Briny’, which was inspired by local wetlands and sea kelp rewilding. The sheep was one of many bright and baa-eautiful sculptures which were scattered across the city last year for people to enjoy.

After the trail finished, the herd of sculptures were then put up for auction, with the highest bidders able to take home their favourite sheep. More than 300 bidders flocked to the Corn Exchange with Martlets ambassador and DJ, Norman Cook – also known as Fatboy Slim - where £400,000 was raised at the auction. In total, the trail raised more than £850,000 for Martlets. The latest £10,000 donated by OneFamily for ‘Pebble’ will be added to this funding, which supports the new hospice in Hove.

Jim Islam, CEO of OneFamily said, “It’s been fantastic having our Brighton office temporarily turned into an artist’s studio for the talented Danni Smith and seeing our very own Shaun the Sheep come to life. Danni’s detailed work shows the varied and beautiful wildlife that we are lucky enough to have right outside the door of our office. Martlets has always been a charity we have been proud to support and we are pleased to have made this further donation which will support people through incredibly difficult times.”

Claire Kidd, Head of Fundraising at Martlets said, “It costs £10 million each year to keep Martlets caring. The care we provide is only free thanks to the generosity of supporters like OneFamily. Each year Martlets support over 3,000 local people facing death, dying and bereavement. Every single penny donated through the Shaun by the Sea project means that Martlets can keep caring for people living with a terminal illness in Brighton & Hove and The Havens. The whole team here at Martlets are so grateful for OneFamily’s ongoing support, thank you”.