Bury’s wolf pack raises more than £10,000 for charities

Last night’s St Edmund’s Day sale of 14 of the 26 wolves from the Bury St Edmunds Wolf Trail has raised more than £10,000 for charity.

Having attracted tourist attention all summer, the first pack were auctioned in front of more than 150 people at St Edmundsbury’s Mayor’s St Edmunds Day Dinner in the Athenaeum

Ed Crichton from Bury auctioneers Lacy Scott & Knight auctioned the wolves, with four going for £1,000 or more.

The wooden wolf in the Abbey Gardens, which was modelled on the original wolf sculpture on Southgate roundabout, fetched the highest price at £1,300.

The £10,000 raised will go to a variety of charities, nominated by the sponsors of each wolf and the remaining wolves will be auctioned at LSK on December 5.

The host for the evening was Mark Murphy from BBC Radio Suffolk, who opened proceedings with a rousing speech about St Edmund, who Mark has long argued should replace St George as England’s patron saint.

County Upper School provided the music during dinner.

Mark Cordell, chief executive of Ourburystedmunds, which organised the trail, said: “We had a fabulous evening celebrating St Edmunds Day and many present hope this will become an annual event.

“The fact that we also raised £10k for charity was a huge bonus. The wolf trail has been a huge success and I am a bit sad that most of our wolves will be leaving the town centre but I am sure they will be well looked after in their new homes.”