On Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 November, we were delighted to host The Kirkwood’s Snowdogs Farewell Weekend. The event took place in the atrium at our Huddersfield Centre and we are delighted to say we welcomed 650 guests through our doors over the weekend.
The collection of 67, individually designed Snowdog sculptures have spent the last three months scattered across Kirklees on the Snowdogs Support Life Art Trail. The trail helped drive footfall across our local communities, highlight cultural gems, and engage with communities across North and South Kirklees. As an anchor organisation at the heart of Kirklees, it was a true honour to host the Snowdogs and be a part of this wonderful community event.
As a college we sponsored our very own Snowdog, designed by the wonderful local artist Ellie Thomas. Ellie’s Snowdog was called ‘Together We Are One’. Her emotive design represents Kirklees’ diverse community and how The Kirkwood charity is here to help everyone who needs support. During the trail, ‘Together We Are One’ was located on New Street in Huddersfield town centre.
Ellie also helped some of our students create their very own Snowdog, ‘Hero Dog’. Ellie was able to see students Katy, Chloe, Harvey, Blake and Melissa in action as they decorated the Snowdog with their winning designs. Ellie helped the students to translate their designs onto the Snowdog and gave them her techniques and tips for getting the most out of the 3D canine sculpture. You can find out more about Ellie by visiting her Instagram page: @ellie.thomas_illustration.
During the farewell weekend, guests were able to see Hero Dog, Together We Are One and many, many more dogs, with Dino Dog and Huddersfield Town’s Terry the Terrier proving very popular. The Snowdogs have since been auctioned off in a charity auction held by The Kirkwood on Wednesday 30 November.
Helen Rose, Director of External Communications said:
“We were delighted to support The Kirkwood by hosting the Farewell Weekend, and it was great to see so many members of the local community in our college to enjoy the sculptures one last time”.
Thank you to everyone who came to the weekend, the Kirkwood for allowing us to host this special event, and all our Kirklees College staff who went above and beyond to make the weekend so special.
You can find out more about the Kirkwood here: The Hospice for Kirklees | The Kirkwood
