London’s Paddington Trail Raises Over $1.4 million for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

LONDON -- During the period leading up to Christmas, London was taken over by life-sized statues of the world’s favorite furry Peruvian explorer designed by a host of celebrities and artists as part of The Paddington Trail, sponsored by Barclaycard. STUDIOCANAL, VisitLondon.com and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) have revealed that the public art installation created to mark the release of PADDINGTON in cinemas has raised over $1.4 million for the NSPCC’s ChildLine service.

Launched on November 4, The Paddington Trail featured statues designed by celebrities and artists including Kate Moss, Jonathan Ross, Marc Quinn, Take That, Hugh Bonneville, Michael Sheen and Emma Watson, as well as Paddington’s fellow adventurer, Bear Grylls. The first 15 of these unique artworks were auctioned in December at an event at Christie’s hosted by David Heyman, producer of PADDINGTON, and his wife Rose, both of whom are longstanding supporters of the charity. The live auction, which also featured pieces of art including a Paddington-inspired piece by Tracey Emin, raised over $757,000 for the NSPCC.   

Other statues were auctioned online by Christie’s, giving people around the world the chance to own a piece of The Paddington Trail. The auction attracted heated bidding with London Mayor Boris Johnson’s ”Bear of London” eventually going to a bidder in East Asia for $48,000. Other favourites were Liam Gallagher’s “Parka Paddington” and Chelsea FC’s “The Special One”, both of which went for $19,700. In addition, residents of the town of Fleet in Hampshire were successful in their bid to own a piece of The Paddington Trail, securing Ant & Dec’s “Bear Humbug” following a crowd-funding campaign supported by the local community.

While The Paddington Trail was live, Mayor Boris Johnson’s “Bear of London” was the third most popular, behind athlete David Beckham’s “Golden Paws” and actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s “Sherlock Bear” which was the most visited profile on .  www.visitlondon.com/paddington ". And as Paddington fever hit London, social media was buzzing with mentions of #PaddingtonTrail, with the campaign reaching over 37.5 million Twitter accounts – more than the population of Peru. A map of The Paddington Trail was downloaded over 90,000 times, and pages on the microsite were viewed over 2.2 million times, demonstrating the Trail’s popularity.

The money raised will help trained ChildLine volunteers provide advice and support to children 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, some of whom are going through the toughest times of their lives. The money will also help continue to modernize the ChildLine service to reflect how children now prefer to get in touch.

For those visitors to London who enjoyed exploring The Paddington Trail and would like to support the NSPCC, text BEAR to 70744 to donate $6 and help answer a call to ChildLine.

Intrepid explorers who took part in The Paddington Trail can download an exclusive certificate from www.visitlondon.com/paddington

© Paddington and Company Limited/Studiocanal S.A. 2014 Paddington Bear™, Paddington™ and PB™ are trademarks of Paddington and Company Limited. 

*Top 3 most popular bears based on unique page views (UPVs) / visits:

1. Benedict Cumberbatch’s “Sherlock Bear” – 22,410
2. David Beckham’s “Golden Paws” – 17,503
3. Mayor Boris Johnson’s “Bear of London” – 14,397

A full list of the bears auctioned is as follows:

Online auction – $486,000 raised

1. ‘Paws’ – Sally Hawkins.
2. ‘Special Delivery’ – Ben Whishaw.
3. ‘Primrose Paddington’ – Julie Walters.
4. ‘Alan Shearer’s Bear’ – Alan Shearer.
5. ‘The Special One’ – Chelsea FC.
6. ‘Sticky Wicket’ – Sir Ian Botham.
7. ‘Chief Scout Bear’ – Bear Grylls.
8. ‘Paddington Who?’ – Peter Capaldi.
9. ‘Wish You Were Here’ – Nick Mason.
10. ‘Taste of Peru’ – Peru.
11. ‘Paddington the Explorer’ – Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!
12. ‘Wonders of the World’ – Peru.
13. ‘Paddington Goes To Whitby Goth Weekend (Please Look After This Goth)’ – Harland Miller.
14. ‘Fragile’ – Ryan McElhinney.
15. ‘Futuristic Robot Bear’ – Jonathan Ross.
16. ‘Love, Paddington x’ – Lulu Guinness.
17. ‘Thread Bear’ – Matthew Williamson.
18. ‘Precious Paddington’ – Solange Azagury-Partridge.
19. ‘Brick Bear’ – Robin Partington & Partners.
20. ‘Bearing Up’ – Taylor Wimpey.
21. ‘Dapper Bear’ – Guy Ritchie.
22. ‘Goldie Bear’ – Kate Moss.
23. ‘Parka Paddington’ – Liam Gallagher.
24. ‘Bearer of Gifts’ – Hamleys.
25. ‘Maya’s Bear’ – 13-year-old competition winner, Maya.
26. ‘Good News Bear’ – The Telegraph.
27. ‘Texting Paddington’ – Westminster Academy.
28. ‘The Bear of London’ – Boris Johnson.
29. ‘Paddingtonscape’ – Hannah Warren.
30. ‘Sparkles’ – Frankie Bridge.
31. ‘Bear Humbug’ – Ant & Dec.
32. ‘Rainbow’ – Darcey Bussell.
33. ‘Camobear’ – Harper Heyman (son of Paddington producer, David Heyman).
34. ‘Bearodiversity’ – Peru.
35. ‘Paddington That’ – Take That.
36. ‘Paddington Jack’ – Davina McCall ***

***Proceeds from the sale of this bear have been donated to Action Medical Research for whom Paddington has been the official mascot for over 35 years.

Gala auction – over $757,500 raised for the NSPCC and its ChildLine service

1. ‘The Journey of Marmalade’ – Hugh Bonneville. $39,000
2. ‘Blush’ – Nicole Kidman. $33,000
3. ‘The Spirit of Paddington’ – Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. $26,000
4. ‘Patchwork Paddington’ – Rhianna (ChildLine young campaigner). $17,000
5. ‘R; G; B’ – Zaha Hadid. $23,000
6. ‘Paddington’ – Michael Bond. $39,000
7. ‘Flutterby’ – Emma Watson. $17,000
8. ‘Gravity Bear’ – Sandra Bullock. $73,000
9. ‘Paddington Lloyd Webbear’ – Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. $9,000
10. ‘Shakesbear’ – Michael Sheen. $14,000
11. ‘Sherlock Bear’ – Benedict Cumberbatch. $26,000
12. ‘Golden Paws’ – David Beckham. $24,000
13. ‘Good Morning, London’ – Michael Howells. $12,000
14. ‘W2 1RH’ – Marc Quinn. $88,000 from two bidders
15. ‘Toggle’ – Benjamin Shine. $7,500

The final total for the gala auction also includes additional donations made by guests on the night, as well as the hammer price for four pieces of artwork donated, including a Paddington-inspired piece by Tracey Emin which raised $94,000.

The remaining bears have been privately bought or auctioned at
NSPCC fundraising events and other income has come from a range of activities including the sale of miniatures at Selfridges, text donations and other private donations / gifts.

About the NSPCC

The NSPCC is leading the fight against child abuse in the UK and Channel Islands. We help children who’ve been abused to rebuild their lives, we protect children at risk, and we find the best ways of preventing child abuse from ever happening.

Our ChildLine service provides a safe, confidential place for children with no one else to turn to, whatever their worry, whenever they need help. Children can contact ChildLine 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 0800 1111 or by visiting  www.childline.org.uk

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