You might expect lions to inhabit the grassy plains of Africa but here in South Yorkshire we have got plenty of lions - lurking about urban areas. They all belong to an art and charity project called "Pride of Yorkshire". Its ultimate purpose is to raise extra funds for Sheffield Children's Hospital.
There are in total one hundred and fifty adult lions to spot. All of them have been individually decorated - mostly by professional artists and community groups. There are also a hundred and fifty smaller lion cubs. When the project reaches its conclusion in September, the lions will be auctioned off.
Now I have no intention of tracking down all three hundred lions but this week I have taken pictures of several of the beasts in and around Sheffield City Centre. And because I am a generous kind of guy, I am sharing a few of those images here in this blogpost.
And on the subject of lions, there are three lions on the badge of the England football team. Tonight, in Atlanta, our lads needed to fight back like lions in order to beat The Democratic Republic of Congo by two goals to one. They were ably led by our captain - Harry Kane - who scored both of our goals. When the second one went in, I yelled at our television screen, "What a hero!" Harry Kane even looks like a lion!
Next up it's Mexico in Mexico City in the early hours of our Monday morning. That won't be easy, even with Harry Kane at the helm. But you never know. COME ON ENGLAND!
We done that painting of animals in my city every year for a while now. This year there are painted dogs all over the downtown area. I bet my youngest son watched that football (soccer) game in a pub (bar) somewhere in Manchester!
ReplyDeleteThe decorated lions are nice, but I prefer the natural look of the one on the flag. Go England!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the football, Team England has only slightly delayed the inevitable. We are playing Egypt at 5.00am Saturday local time. There will still be popular local public gatherings of thousands to watch the event. I expect that will be the end of us.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like some artists have painted on the lions what they may be digesting. I suppose the idea of the lions is to publicise the hospital fund raiser.
That is such a clever way to raise money for the children's hospital. Congrats on the win over Congo and good luck with Mexico.
ReplyDeleteThe crown at the bottom of that picture looks suspiciously like the crown of the Swedish heir to the throne. Hmmmmm...
ReplyDeleteAll very nice and an a touch of art to the town and raise money for a good cause.
ReplyDeleteIt's a win-win.
Roar!
ReplyDeleteI like the lions and lionesses. St Andrew's did a similar thing with Scottie dogs. There were some spectacularly painted sculptures.
ReplyDeleteI hope the auction raises lots of money for 'Sheffield Children's' as it says on the plinths.
They've done something similar in Berlin some years back, with (of course) bears instead of lions.
ReplyDeleteMy sister has taken Monday off work so that she can watch the game - it starts at 2:00 am German time.
Ive seen a few but it's nothing new, we had bears last time and elephants before that. Perhaps local historical figures could have been scattered about, at least it'd be educational.
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