Cassie Thompson, from ARCHIE Foundation, invited by RTN Stephen Fernie

An appeal to mark the tenth anniversary of the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, High 10 for ARCHIE, was launched on Friday June 28th 2013! We're working to transform the ten key steps of a child's journey through the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital and we need your help! Please watch our short video (below) to see what we're aiming to do and meet some of our champions. You can also read through our appeal brochure here too.

But, most importantly, please join us by making a donation or fundraising for The ARCHIE Foundation and our ten year appeal for the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital.

WILD DOLPHINS

There is one thing everybody in Aberdeen will be talking about for 10 weeks next summer Wild Dolphins!

The city will be buzzing from July to September. Young and old alike, residents and visitors, everyone will be talking about, looking for, admiring, counting and smiling at Wild Dolphins in one of the best outdoor art projects ever seen in the North East.

Led by the childrens charity of The Royal Aberdeen Childrens Hospital - the ARCHIE Foundation - and environmental charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Wild Dolphins is a Wild in Art project comprising a display of 50 60 life size Bottlenose Dolphin sculptures decorated with the most imaginative artwork of local artists and placed in locations all around the city in a trail for all to follow.
The idea, although new to the North East, is well proven in other UK cities such as Manchester, Bristol, Southampton, etc.  At a similar event featuring Gorillas in Norwich (www.gogogorillas.co.uk) there were significant benefits to business throughout the area, for example

• 71% of visitors stayed longer in the city because of the event
• 53% visited specific venues because of the event Over 1 million people followed the art trail during its 10 weeks
• 42% of visitors said they are more likely to visit the city again
• 56% had a more favourable perception of the display venues because of their involvement with GoGoGorillas

                                                                       Source: GoGoGorillas Event Research 2013, Zing Insights

The sculptures are all sponsored by businesses and that sponsorship covers the cost of the base sculpture, the artist, the plinth on which it stands, transport etc. At the end of the 10 week event there is a grand auction of all the Dolphins and the money raised is divided between the charities. In October the auction of 54 GoGoGorillas in Norwich raised 271,000 on the night and we would hope that Aberdeen can achieve at least the same!

The first sponsor to back the Wild Dolphins campaign was Mark Patterson, CEO of Nautronix and since then other companies including the Evening Express, McKenzie Print, Charles Michie's Chemists and AAA have all signed up as sponsors for Wild Dolphins.  Below are some quotes that our sponsors have kindly provided:

Mark Patterson, CEO of Nautronix: "There are two reasons we signed up to the Wild Dolphins project the first is its for a great cause and the second is that its a good opportunity for the city and a chance to bring everyone together.  Its something that will be fun and having something like this will enable us to raise a lot of money for the High 10 for ARCHIE Appeal and the Whale & Dolphin Conservation.

Andrew Burton, Associate Director of AAA  "This is a briliant oportunity to raise the profile of any business and it allows us an opportunity to get involved and create a sense of Aberdeen"

John Michie, Owner of Charles Michie's Chemists: "I think this is very exciting for Aberdeen and I am enthusiastic about about anything that will improve the city centre. This project will not only help the two charities but will raise the profile of Aberdeen."

If you would like your business to benefit from the excellent PR, the increased visibility and the feel good factor that Wild Dolphins will bring to Aberdeen in 2014. Please contact project leader Cassie Thompson on 01224 552598 or you can email: cassie@archiefoundation.org.uk and she will be delighted to send you a full sponsorship pack.

You can also watch local artist Eric Auld talk enthusiastically about his support for Wild Dolphins:https://www.dropbox.com/s/vv0o16wztkfh4fu/Eric.mov