North Notts Wild in Art Bookbench trail encourages town centre footfall

We recently supplied precast plinths for some stunning BookBenches to sit on for an art trail which ran from 18th June through to 5th September. The North Notts Journeys ‘BookBenches’ were created by local schools in partnership with artists and businesses, to celebrate the region’s heritage while showcasing its creative talents.

The trail was organised by North Notts BID in collaboration with Wild in Art – a leading producer of spectacular public art events – and included 40 uniquely designed benches on display across Worksop, Retford, Harworth and Tuxford.

The trail, which was 18 months in the planning, was designed to encourage people to explore the sculptures with their friends and family – uncovering parts of North Nottinghamshire that they may have never seen before and helping to drive footfall back towards the town centres to support local businesses after what has been a difficult year.

The trail ran for eight weeks throughout the summer and featured a selection of vivid designs that celebrated the area’s rich literary history, promoting a life-long love of reading and coinciding with the return of the North Notts Lit Fest in September.

Several of the ‘BookBench’ designs were also inspired by the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower crossing – telling the story of its significance within the region – and more modern journeys that included a heart-warming tribute to NHS key workers.

Now that the trail has come to an end the ‘BookBenches’ will be returned to schools that have taken part in the project so they can continue to inspire creativity among students for years to come.

Wild in Art is the leading producer of spectacular public art events that entertain, enrich, inform and leave a lasting legacy. It brings together businesses and creative sectors with schools and local communities through the creation of uniquely painted sculptures. Over the years Wild in Art events have enabled over £15m to be raised for charitable causes, has injected £2.4m into local creative communities , has engaged over 850,000 young people in learning programmes and has helped millions of people of all ages to experience art in non-traditional settings.