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A herd of colourful elephants is making Leicester their home for the next ten weeks as part of a new summer trail to support LOROS Hospice.

This year marks the charity’s 40^th anniversary, and to celebrate this milestone, 40 beautifully decorated elephant sculptures have been placed around the city – including two on ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv's (ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv) campus in Leicester – to form the Stomp Round Leicester Trail.

Decorated by professional artists, the trail will run for ten weeks alongside a second trail featuring 82 baby elephants designed by local schools, community groups, and a number of famous faces, including Stephen Graham, Davina McCall, Gregg Davies, and Serge from Kasabian.

At the end of the trail, the 40 large sculptures will be sold off at auction to raise money for LOROS, which supports terminally ill patients and their families.

Located on Mill Lane, on the lawns outside ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv’s Vijay Patel Building, stands the Threads of Unity. This striking elephant is designed by artist Aasiri Wickremage and depicts the importance of diversity and progress in Leicester, reflecting the city’s strength.

Aasiri's Thread's of Unity on display on Mill Lane, ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv

Aasiri, inspired by her Sri Lankan and South Asian heritage, looks to explore the connections between countries and cultures by weaving together colour, architectural elements and landscapes.

Aasiri said: “Coming from a country where elephants are considered sacred, and having loved them deeply since childhood, it was true joy and honour to have my design selected for this art trail. I see Leicester as a vibrant city, rich in cultural diversity and community spirit. This became my core inspiration for my design, which I interpreted through the use of a colour and pattern.

"The intricate details fuse bold hues – such as blue, yellow, pink, and black – with playful motifs like stripes and dots, creating a joyful and inclusive visual experience. I hope this design celebrates Leicester’s diversity and reflects the city’s ongoing journey of unity."

Artist Rose Allinson has been drawing for as long as she can remember, and her elephant, Remembering Leicester, is a loving reproduction of Rose’s hand-drawn map of the centre of Leicester.

Remembering Leicester outside the Hugh Aston Building

The elephant includes details and interesting facts about the buildings featured, creating a stunning visual history of the city. It can be seen outside the Hugh Aston Building.

Speaking to LOROS, Rose said: “It’s the finer details that excite me: wandering around Leicester, looking up at the buildings, and finding out who, when and where led me to creating this map.

“Hopefully, it will help people learn more about the history of their city.”

Sarah Thomson, Director of Development and Engagement at ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv, said: “We’re so proud to be supporting LOROS as the Official Volunteer Partner for the Stomp Around Leicester Elephants campaign. It’s a fantastic initiative bringing colour, creativity and community spirit to the city, all for a brilliant cause.

“We’re especially excited to host our own elephants, Threads of Unity and Remembering Leicester on campus, celebrating togetherness and local talent. I’d encourage everyone to get involved: volunteer if you can, follow the trail, and support the life-changing work LOROS does. It’s going to be an unforgettable summer across Leicester!”

While ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv is home to two of the sculptures, there are two more elephants on the trail that have been designed by the university's alumni. 

Business Studies and Fashion and Textiles alumna Christina Wigmore has based her design on the night soil men of Leicester and the folk law that surrounds them.

The night soil men were real people whose job it was to come into the city and collect household rubbish, which included animal and human waste, around 150 years ago. A bylaw forbade them from coming into the city before 9pm and, as the urban legend goes, any child who was seen roaming the streets after 9pm would be snatched and taken back to the farms to use as cheap labour.

That rumour gave prominence to the phrase “Watch out for the 9 o’clock horses”, the inspiration for Christina’s elephant, which is located in Great Central Square.

Watch Our For The 9 O'Clock Horses, outside Great Central Square

Christina said: “It was a pleasure to take on this challenge for a really great cause. Having worked in the charity sector myself, I know how hard it can be there and LOROS does such great work for Leicester.

“I’m hoping the wild-looking ghostly appearance will help bring Leicester folk history to life Hoping that people take away an appreciation of the city’s history in a cool way, I really hope people enjoy the elephant.”

Art teacher Lucy Hebden, of Iveshead School, Leicester, worked on her elephant, Patch, in her kitchen.

It’s the 20th time that Lucy has worked on a sculpture as part of a trail, having completed her first one as part of LOROS’ 2021 Rocket Round Leicester Trail.

Patch adorns the Leicester City crest and the club’s famous motto “Foxes Never Quit”, as well as Thai motifs as a nod to LCFC’s connection to the Land of Smiles. The sculpture is aptly placed outside the King Power Stadium and will be on display at the start of the 2025/26 English Football League season.

“I’m really honoured to have been asked by LOROS to work on the elephant outside the King Power,” Lucy said. “I tried to incorporate retro football patterns and designs from across the decades.

“There was a little pressure given that a lot of Leicester City fans will see it on match days but I’m hoping the fans warm to it. I had great fun designing it.”

Lucy's elephant, Patch, outside the King Power Stadium

Lucy has also designed one of the 82 baby elephants with help from the children of Iveshead School.

She added: “The school is hoping to raise £1,000 for LOROS, so it felt appropriate to have the children work on designing a baby elephant.

“We had 200 kids submit their designs and across three weeks we added them to the elephant to create this tapestry.”

Maria O’Malley, Projects Lead at LOROS Hospice, said: "Stomp Round Leicester is a fantastic way to draw together our community this summer in a stampede of colour and creativity as LOROS Hospice’s 40 giant Elephants and 82 Baby Elephants form a jumbo sculpture trail through Leicester. It’s a celebration of 40 years of LOROS and also our city and county and will help to raise vital funds for the Hospice.

We’re incredibly proud to have ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv as our Official Volunteer Partner supporting our Tusk Force. It’s a collaboration which demonstrates the transformative power of volunteering and community support which will be a key part to the success of the art trail and we hope will mark the beginning of a longer-term partnership with the university.”