This is how you can help fund a hospice charity’s Horsham art trail

The initiative aims to fund a HeART to Heart art installation route through Horsham which will be the springboard for further donations.

In July St Catherine’s Hospice will be introducing the project, which will run from July 4 to September 19.

This new event will give communities the chance to follow a trail of hearts not just in Horsham but also across the hospice’s catchment area.

Each heart will be individually and uniquely designed by an artist from the area.

Hearts for Horsham is the name given to the town’s campaign to raise money to bring a number of hearts to Horsham and district.

The campaign wants to show the community’s support for the charity and to bring visitors to seek the hearts on the trail.

The campaign was inspired by the work that St Catherine’s does to support so many lives in the area and is being led by St Catherine’s fundraisers, supported by Horsham District Council and other organisations around the area.

Deputy leader of Horsham District Council, Jonathan Chowen is keen to see as many hearts across Horsham District as possible.

He said: “Quite apart from supporting the amazing work that St Catherine’s do in our community, the HeART to Heart trail is a fantastic community art project that will add another dimension to Horsham’s own District Year of Culture.”

The Hearts for Horsham campaign to buy fund raising hearts for Horsham will kick off on Valentine’s Day.

At the heart of the day will be a St Catherine’s Hospice HeART to Heart display on Swan Walk’s mosaic.

The display will feature a few of the hearts that could form part of Horsham’s trail along with their prospective artists and fundraisers from the charity.

Possible heart locations include Swan Walk, West Street, The Capitol, Waitrose/John Lewis, Horsham Station, The Forum and Horsham Park.

You can see a map of proposed locations at goo.gl/PM1tww

The campaign is inviting everyone in Horsham to wear a heart on the day and make a small donation for doing so either at Swan Walk, by coordinating collections where you work or via the campaign’s linked Just Giving Page at www.heartsforhorsham.info

Businesses are encouraged to make donations from their own community funds or through profit share on a popular product on the day or for a period after.

The campaign will initially run until March 31 with totalisers in Swan Walk, Parkside Council Offices and in the foyer of Waitrose/John Lewis keeping track of the fundraising progress.

Each heart needs a sum of £3,500 to be raised.

To get involved you can wear a heart to work or just around town on Thursday February 14 and donate online.

Alternatively you can get collection boxes in advance for your place of work by emailing [email protected]

Visit the display in the centre of Swan Walk on the day to learn more and meet the artists.

There will also be heart badges and pins available for a donation.

As a business you can get involved and help bring some amazing artist designed hearts to Horsham for the community.

Becoming a sponsor, making corporate contributions and matching staff fundraising are all options if you’re interested in taking part.

Retailers can also set up a profit share on a popular item so that customers can contribute.

For further information about the HeART to Heart trail please visit www.stch.org.uk/hearttoheart/

St Catherine’s Hospice is at the heart of the community it serves and it works to help terminally ill people do the things they love and to live as well as they can, for as long as they can.

Art often plays a part in this, so the charity said it was thrilled to launch HeART to Heart, its first ever community art trail.

HeART to Heart is a fun, free and engaging public art event that will see uniquely designed hearts spread across East Surrey and West Sussex during the summer of this year.

Families, artists, schools and businesses will be encouraged to get involved along the way, and help raise money so more people living with a terminal illness receive the care they need.