Hundreds take part in summer scarecrow trail

Photo of two people holding a banner over a scarecrow figure. — Mayor Michael Hill with the winning scarecrow Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and her creator Gina Eve.

The 2021 Bradley Stoke Scarecrow Trail held over the school summer holidays was a resounding success with hundreds of local families taking on the challenge of visiting all 29 figures.

This was the second year for this community event, with the theme of the scarecrows this time being characters from children’s books, films or nursery rhymes.

Taking place from 14th August to 28th August, the two-week event was staged by Bradley Stoke Town Council, with all proceeds going to the mayoral charities for 2021/22, which are St Peter’s Hospice and Dogs for Good.

Trail maps were sold for a £2 charity donation, with around 500 maps being purchased over the fortnight.

Cllr Angela Morey, elected as an independent town councillor in May 2021, organised the event. She commented:

“I was so excited when I was asked to coordinate the scarecrow trail, having enjoyed the 2020 trail so much and with my background in fundraising. It has been wonderful seeing so many families with maps in their hands and smiles on their faces over the past two weeks, enjoying themselves whilst exploring our community.”

“The weather has been pretty kind and the scarecrow designs amazed me. Such creativity! We saw scarecrows with music, scarecrows with educational leaflets, and scarecrows made entirely from recycled materials – it was amazing!”

“I would like to thank everyone who bought maps, all the scarecrow creators and our generous event sponsors. Congratulations to the winners!”

Sponsors of the event were: The Hollow Tree pub, MyVillageShop, Chickp, Revolution Repairs, HappifyNow, Divingkit.co.uk, Happy Days Nursery, Laurel & Mane and Helen Abbott Pilates.

Several of the scarecrow hosts took the opportunity to promote their own community groups, projects and interests to the steady stream of visitors.

The winning scarecrow, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, lives on, having been donated by its creator Gina Eve to a hedgehog rescue centre in Yate.

An award ceremony was held at the Jubilee Centre on Saturday 4th September, where the trail winners were invited to receive their prizes from Cllr Michael Hill, mayor of Bradley Stoke.

Cllr Hill said:

“I would like to thank Cllr Morey for organising the trail, all the people who made scarecrows, all the businesses that sponsored the event and everyone who toured the town to choose their favourite. It was a great example of the town’s residents having fun and raising money for good causes.”

At the time of going to press, the amount raised by the event stood at around £1,950.