A gala ball event has raised nearly £30,000 for Hospice Isle of Man.
The sold-out event held at The Nunnery on Saturday May 7 came just weeks ahead of the launch of The Big Splash Wild in Art trail that will run from May 27 to September 19.
The trail is an island-wide public art project and fundraising campaign also in aid of Hospice.
The Big Splash gala ball raised £29,965 and provided an opportunity for Hospice chief executive Anne Mills to invite the Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant General Sir John Lorimer, to his first event as patron of Hospice Isle of Man.
He unveiled ‘Hector’ the TT dolphin, designed by Megan Evans and one of more than 30 unique dolphin sculptures and some 40 dolphin calves to be installed at landmark sites around the island for the duration of the trail.
Mrs Mills said: ‘All of us at Hospice have been overwhelmed by the tremendously positive response The Big Splash Wild in Art trail has inspired in the people of the Isle of Man.
‘The gala ball was an opportunity for me, on behalf of everyone at Hospice, to express my heartfelt gratitude to our partners, sponsors, supporters and the wider Manx community who have got behind our campaign so enthusiastically and are helping to make The Big Splash the huge success we’re confident it will be.
‘I was also delighted that in unveiling “Hector”, we were able to celebrate the impending welcome return of the Isle of Man’s world-famous and much-missed motorsports event, the TT, which launches just days after a launch of our own, The Big Splash Wild in Art trail on Friday May 27.’
To find out more about The Big Splash, visit thebigsplash.im