Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is proud to be supporting St Elizabeth Hospice once again as Ipswich prepares to welcome The Big Hoot to the town.

The Big Hoot will see 40 giant owl sculptures, plus a number of smaller owls designed by school children and community groups, displayed right across Ipswich town centre to help raise vital funds and awareness for St Elizabeth Hospice, the main hospice serving the East Suffolk area where our head office is based.

We helped to raise over £15,000 as part of Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk in 2019, and we want to raise even more for The Big Hoot! 

This time we're doing this a little differently, and we asked you to help us design our Hoot. We will be working with Suffolk artist Angela Ashford (pictured above) to bring your design to life! 

In association with Wild in Art, The Big Hoot will launch in June 2022, and over the summer the town will be bustling with families, supporters of the hospice and members of the community getting out to meet the ‘Hoots’.

Like Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' office, St Elizabeth Hospice is based in Ipswich, serving as the main hospice for the east Suffolk area. 

Each year, the hospice supports hundreds of local people who live with terminal, progressive or life-limiting conditions. They provide
end-of-life, palliative care, but also respite for family, friends and carers.

It costs £10.5million to run St Elizabeth Hospice each year. £2million of these costs are covered by the NHS, with the remainder raised entirely from donations.
A similar art trail in Ipswich in 2019 – Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk – raised more than £260,000 for the hospice, with more than 390,000 people taking part in or supporting the trail.