City's art trail benches 'bring people together'

Thirty painted "book bench" sculptures have been placed across Brighton as part of a charity art trail.

The sculpture trail is designed as a walking route through the city from Saturday until 8 November.

As well as the painted book bench sculptures, schools and community groups have also designed an additional 40 mini book benches.

The trail will be raising money for Amaze, a Sussex charity which supports families with disabled children.

Hannah Allbrooke, head of fundraising and marketing at Amaze, said: "We've just installed one of the sculptures [at Jubilee Library] on the story trail, there's 74 book benches in total.

"After the sculptures are displayed, they go off to auction to raise money for us to help support families.

"It's really important to us that this was an accessible and fun experience. They can go out with families and enjoy a tactile, physical sculpture."

The art trail has been popular in previous years with Shaun the Sheep and snail sculptures dotted around the city.

Sarah Harvey, trail director for Wild in Art, said: "We work with charities across the UK, we feel they bring people together.

"There's so many people who bring this trail together, we have our artists but also businesses that sponsor the benches."

Artist Guy Parker-Rees, who designed the book bench at Jubilee Library, said: "I really enjoyed painting this bench, it's like a mini art gallery for everyone to explore. It's a great cause."

Jess Eyles, another artist, said: "This was my first time doing something like this.

"This was something that was a big adventure and out of my comfort zone."

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