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Trunk call as Hendophant raises £11,300 for Sheffield Children's Hospital

Hendophant, a proud and colourful member of the giant herd of elephants who have helped to raise money for Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital, has been bought at auction for £11,300.

Hendophant was sponsored by Henderson’s, makers of the legendary Henderson’s Relish, and painted by talented Sheffield artist Matt Cockayne.

Hendophant proved one of the most popular of the Herd of Sheffield, which descended on the city this summer in an imaginative initiative by The Children’s Hospital Charity.

Only three of the 58 elephants auctioned raised more money than Hendophant, including AM by the rock band The Arctic Monkeys. Altogether the auction, held at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, raised £410,000 for the Children’s Hospital.

Pamela Freeman, owner of Henderson’s, Yorkshire’s best kept secret, explained “Having been supporters of The Sheffield Children’s Hospital for many years we were excited to sponsor a Herd elephant and thrilled that the Hendophant raised so much money in the auction. The bidding intensified after we added a tour of the factory and a chance for the winner to bottle their own Relish!”

Pamela added: “I would like to thank Matt Cockayne for his tremendous work. He is one of so many great artists in Sheffield who have created some iconic images and homages to our Relish.”

The wonderful Hendophant was also named “best of herd” by the influential Sheffield Street Art Blogger, who wrote: “My absolute favourite elephant was one I found early on in the summer and has remained a favourite. Judging by what I’ve seen on social media it is also the favourite of many others. So the number one spot goes to Matt Cockayne’s Hendophant. Matt is perhaps more familiarly known as Goo Design and contributed a couple of sculptures to the herd. His Lingo the Elephant was also excellent.

“I loved Hendophant because of its striking design celebrating a much loved icon of the city: Henderson’s Relish. The elephant looked vibrant in the iconic orange-and-black of the sauce’s packaging and sported the words “Reyt good on owt”, proper Sheffield. Brilliant!”

Hard on the heels of this resounding reminder of the popularity of the iconic relish comes the news that it has been shortlisted for a major prize in the prestigious Deliciously Yorkshire Taste awards.

General Manager Patrick Byrne believes Henderson’s is entering a new era of even greater prosperity, with increasing brand recognition on a national scale.

“Our shortlisting in the Deliciously Yorkshire Taste awards underlines our growing appeal across the county. We now have the opportunity to grow as a business and we are currently raising our profile and selling our relish right across North Yorkshire,” he said.

Director of The Children’s Hospital Charity, David Vernon-Edwards, said: “The auction was an absolutely spectacular finale to the Herd of Sheffield. We really can’t thank everyone enough for their generous bids. We have been overwhelmed by the amount raised and are absolutely delighted the trail will leave a lasting legacy for Sheffield Children’s Hospital.”

Rebecca Staden, fundraising manager at The Children’s Hospital Charity, added that the trail had boosted the economy, while raising much-needed funds for Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

She said: “It brought together schools, companies and businesses from all sectors to create inspiring partnerships and reinforce Sheffield’s status as a vibrant and culturally exciting city. The Herd united communities, brought thousands of people into the city centre and drove business to the local economy.”

Sheffield-born Matt Cockayne has been splashing Hendo’s on his dinner, tea and supper for as long as he can remember. Originally he trained as a sign writer at Castle College, before working his way up through the design and print industry over the past 15 years and finally setting up his own design label and becoming a self-employed artist in April 2013.

Patrick Byrne explained: “Matt’s art has expanded from an Original Henderson’s-themed collection to football-themed art and a very Sheffield feel in general, Matt is very much a lad of the city.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Beaumont .