WATCH: £883,000 raised at Oor Wullie Bucket Trail auction
The money will go towards creating a brand new twin operating theatre paediatric surgical suite for the Tayside Children's Hospital at Ninewells.
70 colourful Oor Wullie statues have been sold at auction, raising £883,000 for the Archie Foundation's Tayside Children’s Hospital Appeal.
The one-of-a-kind project, which brought over 70 individually designed Oor Wullie sculptures to the streets of Dundee and across Scotland, culminated in an international auction on Tuesday, September 13, at the Dundee Rep Theatre where local businesses, individuals and sponsors bid on their favourite.
Several of them went for more than £20,000 and the highest bid of the night was for Oor Origional Wullie, selling for £50,000 to businessman and The ARCHIE Foundation patron Garreth Wood.
The whole fundraising campaign aims to create a twin operating theatre and anaesthetist at Ninewells, Simon Crawley, who ran a successful crowfunding campaign to keep Oor Dreamcatcher at the hospital, knows just how vital that is:
Cassie Thompson, Head of Fundraising for The ARCHIE Foundation, commented: "We have been overwhelmed by the incredible amount raised at our special auction and the generosity of so many people who bid here in Dundee and online from around the world. Oor Wullie's Bucket Trail has captured the hearts of the people of Dundee and, as organisers, we are proud to have been able to bring the public art project, along with out wonderful partners Wild In Art and DC Thomson, to the city over the summer.
"All proceeds from the auction go towards The ARCHIE Foundation's Tayside Children's Hospital Appeal, making a real difference to the lives of sick children and their families across the area. This appeal is the reason that Oor Wullie's Bucket Trail came about and we couldn't be more delighted by the result of yesterday's auction."
Minecraft, an Oor Wullie sculpture inspired by the popular game, sold for £34,000 to an online bidder after a nail-biting bidding war. Several sculptures were bought by online bidders with over 100 registering with I-Bidder from all over the world in the run up to the auction.
Tangerine Terror, an Oor Wullie sculpture inspired by Dundee United FC, was bought for £16,000 by the football club's chairman, Stephen Thompson.