Pride of Yorkshire: The colourful lion sculpture trail marking 150 years of Sheffield Children's Hospital
Lion sculptures have been installed across the region as part of the Pride of Yorkshire campaign marking 150 years of Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Laura Reid reports.
When Judy Randle was told that she’d been selected as an artist to work on the Pride of Yorkshire project, she worried she’d feel like an “imposter”.
At the age of 70, she has been one of the oldest people to paint for the public art trail, made up of 150 sculptural lions and lionesses installed across South Yorkshire in celebration of 150 years of Sheffield Children’s Hospital. "Painting my lions and watching the other lions emerge was such an honour and an amazing experience,” says Judy.
Having only rediscovered a love for art in her retirement, she claims she had to “pinch myself” to be working alongside “some of the great and good of the Sheffield art scene”. “It’s a project full of joy,” she says. “Because I’ve only come to painting fairly recently, I felt a bit of an imposter being there at first but everyone was so welcoming and friendly. It has been a delight to be involved.”
If you’d have asked her at age 13 what she wanted to do, Judy’s answer would almost certainly have been a career as an artist.
She had her hopes set on going to art school but was swayed instead to turn to accountancy. Only after a career of more than 40 years in finance did she abandon her calculator for a paintbrush, returning during the Covid-19 lockdown to her first love of art.
Creating mainly in acrylic, Judy draws inspiration from Yorkshire’s nature and dramatic landscapes, including the woodland and moorland near her Sheffield home.
For the Pride of Yorkshire trail, she has painted two lions, Forrest and Fern, inspired the city’s ancient woodlands, ‘seven hills’, and five waterways. “The idea really was lions walking through the woodland as the seasons change,” she says. “So as you walk around the lions, it goes from autumn to winter to spring to summer.”
Judy’s pieces are among 150 life-sized lion sculptures, painted by artists and sponsored by businesses, that are now on display in streets and green spaces across Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster.
A further 150 lion cubs, designed by schools and community groups, have also been positioned around the region.
Together, they form the Pride of Yorkshire, one of the UK’s biggest free sculpture trails, created by Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, to celebrate the hospital’s 150th anniversary and raise funds to support its transformation for the future.
The lions, which were made at Simpson Patterns, the Sheffield-based specialist moulding and fabrication company, before being painted, have been inspired by everything from sport to wildlife and local landmarks.
Several designs pay tribute to South Yorkshire’s ‘hometown heroes’ such as Self Esteem, Arctic Monkeys, Richard Hawley, Pulp, Bring Me The Horizon, Yungblud, The Reytons, Def Leppard and Kate Rusby.
“Lions are like our patients at Sheffield Children's - they’re courageous, they’re tenacious and they really represent the families, children and staff,” says John Armstrong, chief executive of the charity. “But also a grouping of lions is a pride and we really believe that Sheffield Children’s is the pride of Yorkshire.”
One of the sculptures – A Little Birdie Told Me – is dedicated as a thank you to the hospital’s staff and support workers, who work tirelessly to change lives and shape the future of paediatric care for patients in South Yorkshire and beyond.
The hospital has been at the forefront of children’s health since it opened its doors in 1876, created by a doctor, architect and solicitor who lived in Sheffield and believed poorer children in the city in particular needed access to healthcare.
“These people were innovative, generous thinkers. They had an idea and found a way to achieve it,” says Ruth Brown, Chief Executive at Sheffield Children’s.
“For 150 years, this hospital has (also) been shaped by its community,” she continues. “From the earliest days, when people from Sheffield raised funds to open the very first hospital, to today, that spirit of generosity from people across Yorkshire has never gone away. And our charity continues to play a vital role in that story.”
Pride of Yorkshire will raise much-needed funds towards the £20m redevelopment of Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Department. Originally built to see 24,000 patients a year, the ED last year saw more than 62,000 children and young people pass through its doors in need of urgent or emergency care.
“Every year, thousands of children and young people come through our Emergency Department needing urgent, specialist care, often at the most frightening moments for families,” says Ruth.
“While our teams provide exceptional care every single day, the environment they work in no longer reflects the growing demand or complexity of the patients we see.
"The support generated through Pride of Yorkshire will help us create a calmer, more child-friendly Emergency Department that is fit for the future.”
Through donations, and later an auction of the sculptures, it is hoped the Pride of Yorkshire trail will generate £2.8 million, kickstarting a major campaign by the charity to raise £6.3 million over the next three years.
John says: “We hope people will enjoy getting out, exploring the region and discovering the sculptures, while helping us celebrate 150 years of Sheffield Children’s Hospital and supporting its future.”
- Pride of Yorkshire runs until early September. To find out more, visit prideofyorkshire.org