Sunday is the last day of the Wallabies Gone Wild art trail and our wallabies will soon be hopping away from the locations where they’ve spent the summer months.

It’s hard to believe that 14 weeks have flown by so quickly and we couldn’t be more proud that our wallabies have been such a huge talking point for locals and visitors alike.

It has been amazing to see the island awash with colour, character, vibrancy and community spirit.

Each day throughout the trail, our social media channels have been inundated with photographs of people young and old, from all walks of life, and we have been delighted to see the joy that the wallabies have brought with them.

The stats from the interactive Wallabies Gone Wild mobile app, which is sponsored by Tevir Group, also show us how popular the art trail is.

To date there have been 64,275 wallaby unlocks, 5,373 photo uploads and 3,330 wallaby votes entered.

We have also distributed 15,000 free paper trail maps.

With the support of our partners, our sponsors, our artists, our volunteers and of course, everybody who has taken part in the trail, we have been able to showcase some of the Isle of Man’s best assets, boost national pride and bring creativity and culture to the fore.

In communities where art trails like this have taken place there have been significant impacts on health and wellbeing as more people are encouraged to get out and about and spend time as a family or group of friends.

Part of Hospice Isle of Man’s purpose is to help people to live well, so this element of the trail is very befitting to our organisation.

People will have all day on Sunday, September 1, to track down the wallabies before they’re removed from their outdoor locations over the following few days.

The wallabies may be leaving the trail but people will have the opportunity to see them one last time at our Farewell Weekend, which is being held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 20, 21 and 22.

The weekend will be a family-friendly event in celebration of Wallabies Gone Wild, and will see the large and small wallabies gathered together at Ballannette Park, Baldrine, where there will also be games, crafts and food stalls.

Then on Thursday, September 26, is the pinnacle of Wallabies Gone Wild, when the large sculptures will go under the hammer at the Villa Marina to raise funds for Hospice Isle of Man.

For more information about these events and to book tickets, visit wallabiesgonewild.im

by Hospice Isle of Man

www.hospice.org.im

newsdesk@iomnewspapers