With their pets as inspiration, Julia Keeling, owner of Wishes of Cudworth and her parther Chris Fox, founder of Giftshop Hub, have instigated a Bunny Trail which is encouraging trade in the South Yorkshire village, near Barnsley.
Running until the end of September, children and their parents are being invited to follow a map to track down a series of different ceramic bunny sculptures that are hidden in windows of nine Cudworth shops.
All those who receive a ‘sticker’ from the participating retailers (that colour match the bunny featured in the shops), can then visit Wishes and receive a ‘goody bag’.
As Julia explains: “We feel the shop local message that the Cudworth Bunny Trail promotes is important. We want our village to be full of vibrant and interesting independent shops. Our Independent shops often stock items which are made locally or aren’t available elsewhere. With our smaller indie shops you’ll get a service that the larger department shops just can’t offer”.
Chris reveals that the theme for the trail is a combination of their own pets – Molly, Pedro and Huckleberry – as well as local historical connection. “The rabbit has a long history with Barnsley going back to the times of the Vikings.
Rabbit Ings Country Park in Barnsley has a rabbit carved on its hillside which can be seen from miles around. This Norse image ties into the name of the site – ‘ings’ being a Norse word or description of low lying wetland and of course a rabbit!”
Although there are still two weeks to run of this year’s Bunny Trail, Julia and Chris are already underway with plans to build on the initiative for next year, involving those in the card trade. Both Cherry Orchard and Lola Designs have agreed to decorate a ‘Bunny’ for next year while Chris is also looking to find sponsors to create outsized bunnies!
Enthused by the potential, Chris told PG Buzz: “This year Bunny Trail has really connected with our locals, but next year’s event will put Cudworth on the map. The painted bunnies will really add to the trail and impact it has, not just in Cudworth but in Yorkshire and beyond!”.
More information is available at https://giftshophub.co.uk/cudworth-bunny-trail and https://giftshophub.co.uk/5-great-art-shopping-trails
