GRIPPLE BEAR - THE JOURNEY

Back in July 2021 we went to visit our Gripple bear sculpture which was part of the ‘Bears of Sheffield’ public arts trail that raised funds for The Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Our bear has had quite an adventure before finding a new home at Gripple HQ!

Plants & Bees

Jay Cover originally designed and painted our bear back in 2020 – Jay’s inspiration came from his local environment. He named the 2.1m bear sculpture ‘Plants & Bees’ – there is a large sunflower on the front and flowers and bees covering the rest of the sculpture.

In July 2021, we went to preview our bear along with 59 other creative and unique bears, ready for their escape into the wild (streets of Sheffield). Our Gripple bear had a prime spot between the Sheffield rail station and Sheffield Hallam University buildings which allowed lots of people to enjoy our bear as they navigated along the trail.

The Bear Hunt

Our bear had numerous visitors including various Gripple employees going on their own ‘bear hunts’ over the summer!

Members of Gripple’s graduate scheme took the bear hunt one step further and visited all 60 bears in 16 hours! Their trek covered 42 miles and the finish line was our Gripple bear in Sheffield city centre. As a result, our amazing graduate team managed to raise some additional funds for The Children’s Hospital Charity and Weston Park Cancer Charity. Huge congratulations to them on completing their gruelling trek!

The Homecoming

In September 2021, the ‘Bears of Sheffield’ trail ended but what happened to the Gripple bear? The bear went off for a check-up and wash down with the other bears ready for their final farewell before being auctioned off to the highest bidder.

We didn’t want our bear to go to any old home. Setting off to the auction at Sheffield Crucible with ‘Plant & Bees’ bear our target, the bear became ours!

The bear now proudly resides at Gripple HQ (The Old Gun Works) in Sheffield – it will take a tour round all our other Sheffield manufacturing facilities in 2022. If you spot our bear next time you visit feel free to take a selfie with the bear that was a huge part of Gripple’s 2021.

Everyone at Gripple raised a spectacular figure of £1105.71 that went towards the total that will help towards the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Cancer and Leukaemia Ward.