Aston Rowant 2019
The first major installation was at the Aston Rowant Nature Reserve in Oxfordshire in November 2019 and proved to be a major success. Over a two week period the site was visited by over 7500 people with hundreds of thousands having the opportunity to view it whilst travelling on the M40. Over £25,000 was raised for the Royal British Legion in this short period from generous donations given by visitors to the site or online here.
The project has received such an incredible response that we are now looking to develop it further - please do get in contact with us if you can help with donations and sponsorship which will be vital to see this through.
“ This all came about because I wanted to buy two of these silhouettes and was two days too late. So I decided to make some myself. We put them up around the village, had a whip round and raised twelve hundred pounds for the poppy appeal ”
Dan explains how the idea for STANDING with GIANTS started
Blenheim Palace 2020
In 2020, at the invitation of the Duke of Marlborough, we positioned 200 Giants at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. They had a booking system in place to reduce the number of visitors during this Covid-19 period and although the palace & gardens were closed, the grounds remained open and they were able to charge an entrance fee to visitors which helped them raise much needed funds during this difficult period. They had to bring back many staff who were furloughed and catering facilities to help manage our event. One food vendor* told us we had saved their year. This also enabled us to raise money for the Poppy Appeal and to date this installation has raised over £40,000.
*External vendors were brought in to support Blenheim’s own catering services due to the numbers of visitors our installation attracted.
“What was quite astonishing was the reaction from people - they were standing in the field crying, some literally sobbing in my arms. It was so moving and I knew then that I had to push this project on”
— Dan Barton
Oxford South Park 2021
In line with our ethos of never forgetting those who have lost their lives for the freedom of others, it seemed fitting to produce an installation in tribute to the losses of the NHS staff who fought so hard to save others during the Covid-19 pandemic. We produced 300 NHS inspired figures which, due to the diversity of job types, gender, ethnicity, hair colour, etc, ended up being a mammoth exercise in painting and took over 3 months to produce.
The installation has been incredibly well received by our visitors and we now hope to take it on a rolling tour around the country over the coming years.
We introduced the concept of inviting the public to write personalised messages on the backs of the installation which proved to be both popular and powerful.
Coventry: Coombe Abbey Park 2021
Following on from our installation in Oxford, we took the NHS figures to Coventry, 2021 City of Culture, where they were on display for 3 weeks.
The installation was well attended with a constant stream of daily visitors. Many more comments were written on the backs of the Giants using our special white paint marker pens.
Falkland Islands 2021
After months in the planning and against many odds, we were delighted to finally get an installation to the Falkland Islands - some 8000 miles away from our workshop in Oxfordshire!
We are indebted to South Atlantic Trading in Liss, Hampshire for their generosity in transporting ten of our crates by ship thus enabling this installation to take place as well as to the willingness of many Islanders to volunteer and set the installation up in our absense - a great team effort!
The figures have been specially adapted to allow for the strong winds and harsh weather conditions on the islands.
Figures can be seen in a field of remembrance at Port Stanly as well as outside the Anglican Cathedral
Ph. Stephen Luxton
Hampton Court Palace 2021
To commemorate and remember those who lost their lives in both World Wars and present-day conflicts, a new art installation will be on display in the East Front Gardens at Hampton Court Palace this November. The piece includes more than 100 specially commissioned silhouettes of soldiers, including 25 specially made Indian soldiers that camped in Home Park, Hampton Court. There will also be 75 screen-printed poppy wreaths as part of the installation.
Nearly 1800 soldiers from the Indian Army set sail from Bombay (today known as Mumbai), to march in the Peace Celebrations in London alongside troops from nations across the British Empire.