Stockport Frogs raise £31,000 for Stepping Hill’s Tree House

18 of the giant Stockport frogs from Totally Stockport’s Giant Leap Frogs Art Trail went under the auctioneers hammer at Europe’s largest Mercedes-Benz dealership in Europe last night!

Over 100 business owners, sponsors, artists, supporters and bidders were joined by Stockport’s Strawberry Radio as Simon Charles Auctioneers hosted the first auction of its kind in Stockport.

Running concurrently online and live in the showroom, the bidding got underway with paddles being raised and telephones buzzing.

First under the hammer was Nexphibian, sponsored by Nexperia and painted by Nick Lowndes, circuiting the room before securing a forever home for £1,050. Robinsons’ Golding was secured by an online bidder for £1,100 quickly followed by Amshire IT Solutions’ KermIT whose digital design attracted a bid of £950.

Holiday Inn Express’ pyjama-clad Cornelius woke up to a bid of £950 while Prince Regent, sponsored by Orbit Developments raced off with a bid of £1,050.

Medieval-designed Ferdinand sprung off to a new lily pad after attracting a bid of £1,050 which seemed to be the order of the day as CDL’s psychedelic Robert also attracted £1,050. Buster, depicting Stockport’s iconic 192 bus and fairytale character Sir Lovealot both hopped off with a £1,000 price tag while Stockport College’s Midas, Mrs Merseyway the happy shopper and BASF’s Chemit pipped them at the post for £1,100!

As the remaining frogs appeared for the final time, aristocratic Sir Hopsalot achieved £1,500 and Sir Norman Frogster, designed and painted by the children of Prospect Vale Primary, is guaranteed his place at the school after a generous bidder donated a whopping £2,300 to ensure Sir Norman was staying where the children can enjoy him for many years to come and This Little Froggy went to Market looks set to stay local after a bid of £1,700.

But it was the final trio that attracted the highest bids: Fanatical Freddie, sponsored by Concentrix and painted by Caroline Daly was sold after an Internet bid of £3,000; Marketing Stockport’s Strawberry Fields attracted a bidding frenzy before a fantastic bid of £4,800 brought a taste of sweet success for its new owner.

And finally, Edgeleap, sponsored by C&C Insurance Brokers, caused the biggest sensation of the night as County fans kicked the bidding around before scoring an own goal for £5,000.

Deputy Matron at Stepping Hill Hospital’s Tree House children’s ward, Claire Gibosn, was ecstatic after the Stockport frogs auction and told Marketing Stockport’s Helen White:

“Wow Helen, what a fantastic night. I’m thrilled and just keep smiling! We are so very grateful and excited about what this means for the children and young people who use the Treehouse Children’s Unit.

“The proceeds far exceeded any of our expectations and we are awestruck at the possibilities that such a large donation opens up to us.

“Our Treehouse building celebrated its 20th birthday this year and how wonderful it will be to give it a much needed new lease of life. The ground floor of the building serves all of our outpatient facilities and outside garden area, while the first floor is home to our inpatient ward and assessment area.

“We would love to create a spectacular experience right from the front entrance to our building, where children and young people feel comfortable and even excited about coming into and the frog auction will enable this to happen.”

Totally Stockport’s BID manager, Paul Taylor said:

“When we first conceived the idea of the frog project, we never imagined just how successful it has been; over the summer thousands came to Stockport to follow the trail and discover all the frogs.

“To end the project with such a fantastic auction is truly amazing. A small dedicated team made all this happen and, on behalf of everyone involved, I would like to say a huge thank you to the sponsors, artists, local businesses who have supported us.

“LSH Mercedes-Benz Stockport have been fantastic and hosted a great evening and the team from Simon Charles Auctioneers gave their time for free, I really can’t thank them all enough.

“But I would also like to say a BIG thank you to the people of Stockport who have loved and respected the frogs; that has given us the confidence and the drive to do it all again, watch this space!”

Simon Rothwell from Simon Auctioneers added:

“We were thrilled to be a part of the Stockport Giant Leap frog auction and it was amazing to see the turnout and enthusiasm for the project. It’s been a great initiative for Stockport and, as a Stockport base auctioneers, we were pleased to have been involved in this very special event”.