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Marwell's Zany Zebra 2016 - the story of the zebra-tastic Goodmane!

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This summer, a rare sight came to the streets of Southampton; almost 50 giant, brightly coloured zebras adorned the city.  Warner Goodman LLP were one of the sponsors of the giant zebras, contributing towards the wonderful conservation work being done by Marwell Wildlife.

48 sponsors took part in the 10 week long Zany Zebras trail in different locations across Southampton from July to September.  The spectacular event was due to the tireless efforts of charity, Marwell Wildlife. The team, headed by Kirstie Mathieson, chose the Grevy zebra as the focus of the project due to the declining numbers of these beautiful animals found in the wild, with all the money raised helping their conservation work in Africa.

The story of ‘Goodmane’

Each of the large zebras that formed the trail were sponsored by a local business.  “We were keen to be involved in the Zany Zebras campaign this year as there had been so much intrigue and interest in the Go Rhinos campaign that took place in 2013,” explains Marketing Manager, Karen Clarkson.  “This is a rare opportunity for businesses in Southampton to show their support for a local charity, be involved in something that spreads to all corners of the community and attracts new people to the city, while reaping the promotional benefits that came from Marwell Zoo.”

Once the sponsors were confirmed, artists were chosen from all over the country to design a Grevy zebra to make the trail colourful and eye-catching.   Mik Richardson created the amazing design of the Warner Goodman zebra ‘The Judge’; a zebra complete with gabble and a book of law.  A competition was launched within the firm to come up with a name for The Judge.  Entries such as Judgy McJudge-Face were popular but in the end ‘Goodmane’ was chosen; an entry put forward by our Managing Partner, Ed Voller.

The competitions didn’t stop there as a ‘Colour Me Zany’ competition was launched for children of all ages being given their chance to come up with a zebra design.   Beautiful entries flooded the offices from children across the South Coast but in the end the attention to detail of Isla Hault’s design won us over; the individually cut leaves and goggly eyes made Isla the proud owner of tickets to Marwell Zoo and a VIP guest at our summer launch party.

How much was raised for Marwell Zoo and the Grevy zebra?

Over the summer the trail was promoted endlessly, with guidebooks published to encourage everyone to complete the trail and find every zebra.  All good things must come to an end, and on 25th September the zebras moved on to their new ground at the Ageas Bowl ahead of the auction on the 18th October.  “We were delighted that Goodmane was sold for £1,050 with our miniature version of Goodmane raising a further £160,” comments Karen.  “£103,560 was raised in total for Marwell Wildlife, an incredible amount changing the lives and future for the Grevy zebra.  We’re looking forward to seeing the next conservation project!”

For more information about the Zany Zebra trail or Marwell’s conservation work, you can visit their website here.

ENDS

This is for information purposes only and is no substitute for, and should not be interpreted as, legal advice.  All content was correct at the time of publishing and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that may invalidate this article.