Doddy comes face-to-face with his Doppelganger
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The legendary Ken Dodd popped down to the penguin preview at St George’s Hall on Tuesday to meet the winner of the Echo’s people’s Penguin competition, Lee O’Brien. Doddy was amazed by his penguin doppelganger : “I’m delighted and thrilled and think it’s wonderful. The young man who designed it is such a nice fella, who is a great creative artist. I don’t think he could have done anything better.” The Lord Mayor Councillor Mike Storey also came down to congratulate Lee on his achievement. |
Penguins Make a Visit to the Set of Hollyoaks
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The cast of teen-drama Hollyoaks got behind the Go Penguins auction when three of our beloved penguins made a visit to the set of the hit channel 4 hit show, before the penguins take their own starring role for charity. The cast fell in love with their new friends –maybe we’ll soon see a waddle-on part for our penguins pals? |
Paul O'grady's - Owl Ma Penguin Delights Visitors
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“It’s been a privilege to be involved in this campaign and I was thrilled to see my original design of Old Ma Penguin brought to ‘life’. Go Penguins has captured people’s imaginations and an army of penguins dotted around Liverpool has proved a huge success and raised a lot of public interest. I hope the Go Penguin auction raises loads of money for the charities and the penguins go to good homes!!” |
Graeme Le Saux gives the Auction a Thumbs-up
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Footballer Graeme Le Saux, who designed the event’s Vincent Van Gogh inspired penguin as well as being a WWF ambassador gave the auction the thumbs up : “As a WWF supporter, I’m proud to have created such a memorable design for Go Penguins. But behind the paint is a serious message about climate change and I hope that this will help to inspire people to do something about it." |
Liverpool ECHO and Go Penguins join forces to find:
THE PEOPLE’S PENGUIN DESIGN COMPETITION
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The Liverpool ECHO and Go Penguins organisers Wild In Art are teaming up to launch a major new competition to find ‘The People’s Penguin’. A call has been issued to the people of Merseyside through the ECHO to come up with a new design that will be created by a professional artist before the penguin goes to auction at a Gala Charity event on February 4th to raise funds for the Liverpool Unites Charity. |
| The winner will also receive a £500 voucher generously donated by Liverpool ONE, a night at the newly-opened Liverpool Hilton and two tickets to the Go Penguins auction, where they can look on with pride as their penguin goes under the hammer. For additional information, downloads, and deadlines please Click Here |
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Join the Envoronment Agency and our Penguins in the New Year Rubbish Revolution
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Go Penguins in partnership with the Environment Agency are calling for us all to make a resolution that could make a real difference to the planet. After overindulging at Christmas this year, why not reduce the amount of waste we produce in January by giving your unwanted possessions to friends, family and charities rather than to landfill? As the Environment Agency and our penguin pals are keen to point out, things should only be recycled as a last resort and nothing that’s reusable should be sent to landfill. So let’s all make a pledge to do our bit for a greener Merseyside by acting on the environmental messages highlighted by the penguins. |
Paint Your Own Penguin Competition: PENGUIN UPLOAD
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Following such an enthusiastic response to Paint Your Own Penguins, Home Bargains has completely sold out. For those lucky enough to have purchased a penguin, click here to upload a photo of your painted penguin for a chance to win your own 3-foot (90cm) penguin. Best of luck to all the aspiring penguin artists!! |
Get your Official Go Penguins Merchandise
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The full Go Penguins official merchandise range is now available to buy from www.gopenguins.co.uk/shop.php From glossy coffee table books, marvellous mugs and beautiful photographic calendars to fun colouring books for young penguin fans, they make the perfect penguin memento or gift. Some lines are already selling out, so be quick and snap up your penguin momento soon. |
A Penny For Your Thoughts!
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An interactive charity penguin, which enables people to record short videos about the environmental and social issues facing their local communities, has taken pride of place at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral. Named Penny, this innovative penguin has been equipped with the latest interactive technology from aptly named Merseyside-based marketing and communications company, ICE. |
The videos are being fed back to www.penny4athought.com so you can have a look at your contribution as well as those of others. Penny the Penguin is also helping to raise money for Liverpool Unites, a local charity which helps community groups to positively engage with young people from some of Merseyside's poorest communities. You can make a donation by visiting Penny or online.
Go Penguins In The News
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With the value of Go Penguins publicity topping £3 million, the event has attracted unprecedented attention from the media, leading to the Merseyside art extravaganza being highlighted by The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Daily Express and The Guardian as one of the top things to do in the UK this Christmas! We’ve also been the subject of a magnificent centre-spread in the Times Educational Supplement and featured on BBC One’s The One Show and the Paul O'Grady Show, as well as many international newspapers like the Ottawa Star, Bangkok Post, Shanghai Daily and the Times of India. |
The regional media has also given its considerable backing to the event and proudly supported us all the way, one highlight being an incredible 32-page full-colour souvenir edition of the Liverpool Echo. We give our most sincere thanks to all the media who have supported us so well – we couldn’t do it without you!
BadFormat! created video on the Liverpool Penguins:
Communities Get Behind Go Penguins
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Merseyside Community groups have embraced Go Penguins, with over 24 groups taking part in the project by designing penguins and working with our artists. To have their outstanding creations on public display is a cause for celebration, so go out and see them and show your appreciation for our thriving creative communities. |
One example of a community collaboration - ten members of ACSIL (Amputee's & Carers Support in Liverpool) had two fun-filled workshops with artist Selina Dunne of Whimsical Arts to develop the design for 'Pacsil' (image above). His colourful clothes symbolise the group's positive energy and his prosthetic leg gives a hopeful message of a full and fun life. Sponsored by Liverpool Primary Care Trust with Liverpool City Council and Neighbourhood Management Services, 'Pacsil' will be located at the Central Reservation on The Strand.
Wirral and St Helens
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St Helens and Wirral will have their own colonies of penguins to celebrate their rich historical, cultural and sporting heritage, with all penguins created in partnership with Wirral Council and St Helens Council. In St Helens, 10 penguins including a colony of schools penguins will be on display in a town centre trail leading from The World of Glass, Church Square and Church Street. And across the Wirral, 12 penguins including a schools colony will be on display, at a variety of attractions from Birkenhead to West Kirby. |
The image above shows 'Together As One', by artist Claire Stringer, sponsored by Port Sunlight Museum & Garden Village and Wirral Council. The design (image above) shows penguins huddled together, a means to keep warm for survival. if you are in St Helens keep your eyes peeled for the Johnny Vegas Penguin, created by artist Tony Bishop with the St Helens comic and TV star.
A Winter's Trail
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Go Penguins is the highlight event of A Winter's Trail; bringing together a special programme of seasonal entertainment across Liverpool and Merseyside. You can view the full programme of events here. Events begin at Liverpool ONE this Wednesday (18 November), with the opening of Santa's Ice Palace and the Christmas lights switch-on. Find out more about the event here. And on the 19 November an enchanting Snow Queen with special powers of illumination will glide through the city on her beautiful sleigh. |
From this Sunday (22 November), Liverpool ONE will be home to a flock of Penguins, including Flora, a penguin inspired by Cath Kidston Floral designs and intricately painted by artist Sarah Jane Richards.
Paul O'Grady'S Owl Ma Penguin
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10 November, 2009 - We are delighted to add TV and radio star Paul O'Grady to the list of top Liverpool artists designing penguins. His design, called 'Owl Ma Penguin' portrays an old woman and was inspired from childhood memories of ladies that were locally called 'Mary Ellen's'. Paul's creation has some typical O'Grady touches such as a leopard skin head scarf and old ladies slippers, with a fur trim. |
Owl Ma Penguin will be located in the Adelphi Hotel, and is being created by artist Nicola Windever. O'Grady got involved in the project as a supporter of WWF (wwf.org.uk), the world's leading conservation body, and their invaluable work on climate change. Paul said: 'Penguins are fantastic little animals and it's heartbreaking to think what we're doing to the earth is threatening their very existence. If my attempt at being Leonardo Da Vinci can help people stop, have a laugh and think about global warming then I'll be very happy.'
Carrie, Our Plastic Bag Penguin
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10 November, 2009 - There are many fantastic stories to be told through our penguins, about Merseyside, the environment, communities and artists. One of these stories is told by Carrie the penguin, by artist Wendy Williams, which has a serious side in drawing attention to plastic waste and the need to conserve our energy resources through recycling. Williams' work stems from a concern over climate change, and was inspired by discarded carrier bags. She's used over 300 recycled bags knitted together to cover the surface of the penguin, which creates a beautiful effect. This beauty is sponsored by The Environment Agency and will be on display at the Capital Building on Old Hall Street, Liverpool. |
Creativity in Schools
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10 November, 2009 - In what has become Britain's biggest schools art event of the year, more than half of the city's schools have been working on their penguins. These mini flocks will go on display in Liverpool city centre, the Wirral and St Helens alonside the 132 large 5ft penguins. Go Penguins has unleashed the inner-artist of thousands of pupils and has led to a huge creative conversation in hundreds of classrooms about Liverpool's Year of nvironment and the wider, life-changing issues surrounding global warming. |
One of the 94 Liverpool schools involved was Gateacre Community Comprehensive School, who hosted a unique decoration day (image left), engaging more than 150 children from nine primary schools to create what will be the first penguin colony.
Video's from The Environment Agency's Tommorrow's World Short Films Competition
Dancing polar bear & penguin
Don't Expect a Miracle
It's Our Granadaland
Granada Reports has teamed up with The Environment Agency to inspire viewers to get creative and design their own penguin to raise awareness about climate change. The winner of the competition will have their design created by a professional artist to represent Granada and The Environment Agency in Go Penguins – the UK’s largest public art programme.
The competition is open to everyone and is designed to motivate individuals and communities to take action to protect Our Granadaland. Climate change is happening all over the world. Ice caps are melting, rainforest is being destroyed and plants and animals are vanishing-including our new penguin friends. Some of the suggested topics for the competition are: travel alternatives, energy alternatives, forest conservation, water conservation and quality, habitat, re-use, reduce and recycle, food and caring for nature.
Keith Ashcroft, Environment Agency Area Manager from The Environment Agency said: “Climate change is an important issue and we need to encourage everyone to look after the planet for future generations. The competition is a great way of stimulating everyone to think about the effects of climate change.”
If you’d like to create a design for one of the penguins expressing what climate change means to you, simply go to www.itv.com\granada for the template and send your submission to It’s Our Granadaland, Granada Reports, ITV Granada, Quay Street, Manchester, M60 9EA by 3 November.
Pupils Pick Up Penguins
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24 September, 2009 - The biggest public art project in Britain's schools this year has taken flight. Over 100 spectacular Penguins have been adopted by more than 80 Liverpool schools. As the official sponsor of the Go Penguins school scheme, Home Bargains, is delivering the colony of penguins to playgrounds city-wide. Click here for the full story. |
Mersey Ferries Get Involved!
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6 August, 2009 - A small colony of penguins is set to invade the public transport network as part of the magical transformation of Liverpool into an Antarctic wonderland. Click here for the full story. |
Liverpool is Penguin Paradise
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7 July, 2009 - This Christmas, one of the country's top shopping destinations will be magically transformed into an Antarctic wonderland. Click here for the full story. |
As part of its sponsorship of Go Penguins 2009, Liverpool ONE will be playing host to half a dozen stylish 5ft penguins looking for a new home amongst the city’s legendary fashionistas this Christmas.
… and all but one has managed to p-p-p-pick out a design.
So that means one poor fellow is still in need of a look befitting of the North West’s style capital and number one shopping destination. If you’d like to design an outfit for the Liverpool ONE penguin expressing what Liverpool style means to you, find out more here.