Elephants march into intu Bromley for final stop of national tour

This week Elephant Parade has arrived at intu Bromley where art designs from top celebrities will be joined by elephants created by local school children.

The Elephant Parade national (www.intuelephantparade.co.uk) tour kicked off in Central London in July 2013 and over the last 12 months it has made 13 tour stops around the UK. The tour is the brainchild of intu whose support for the tour has enabled Elephant Parade to connect with more than 30 million people, spreading its conservation message and bringing moments of surprise and delight to people’s daily lives.

The touring herd of 36 elephant statues - designed by artists and celebrities such as Claudia Schiffer, Rylan Clark, Alex Jones and Union J - has been joined by more than 70 vibrant elephants designed by school children from around the UK. In total, around 10,000 people have submitted design ideas for the tour, which have been shown on a digital show reel at intu centres.

Dubbed the “people’s parade”, the goal of this year’s tour was to make the magnificent display of public art accessible to everyone. Bromley will host the parade until 26^th July, offering the public one last chance to catch a glimpse of the art collector pieces.

In conjunction with this year’s public art expo, the stunning elephant statues are now available to buy through an online auction at www.intuelephantparade.co.uk/elephants. The silent auction, not only offers people the opportunity to bid on their favorite elephants, but also to own an original art piece at a special ‘buy now’ price.

Additionally, it is possible to help raise funds for TAEF by making a pledge from as little as £1. The aim is to raise as much money as possible to help save the Asian elephant until the 26^th July 2014, when the auction ends.

Maria Cooper, Manager at intu Bromley, commented: “Elephant Parade needs no introduction. Wherever it goes, it enlivens, energises and stimulates the places it visits and offers something for everyone. We are proud to be presenting what we think will be the definitive Elephant Parade, a national tour with local flavour that offers a welcome boost to retailers and will give millions of people a reason to smile. The success of the tour has generated numerous requests for the elephants to make additional tour stops, but given so many of the art pieces have now attracted buyers, the decision has been taken to close the tour at Bromley and we are thrilled to be hosting the tour’s finale before the elephants go to their new homes.”

Mike Spits, Founder of Elephant Parade commented: “Elephant Parade has really captured the hearts and minds of the people. The level of direct public engagement is the highest we have seen in the UK to date since the tour started in London last July. We’ve already raised a tremendous amount of money for The Asian Elephant Foundation and we really hope to raise even more funds, which are vital for helping protect the Asian elephant. We are confident that the last leg of the tour will be a suitably worthy finale for what has been arguably one of the finest Elephant Parades to date. This has been the longest running event we have ever run and it has reached and connected with the most people. We thank intu for making this possible.”