Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne — the sculpture trail on Gosforth's doorstep

There is a good reason children have been pointing excitedly at brightly painted rabbits around Newcastle since the middle of July. Peter Rabbit: Tales on the Tyne, a free public sculpture trail, launched on Wednesday 15 July and runs until Monday 14 September, and it has a strong Gosforth connection: it is the flagship celebration for St Oswald's Hospice on Regent Avenue, which turns 40 this year. The trail also marks 160 years since the birth of Beatrix Potter, whose most famous character gives the event its name.

The trail is made up of 96 sculptures in total — 43 large Peter Rabbits designed by regional and international artists, plus 53 smaller "Little Peter Rabbits" painted by local schools and community groups. They are placed across streets, parks and public spaces in Newcastle and North Tyneside, so families in Gosforth do not have to travel far to start ticking them off, and several sit within an easy Metro ride or afternoon stroll.

How to take part

The trail itself is free to walk. To help you find the sculptures there is an official Tales on the Tyne app (£1.99 on the App Store and Google Play) with unlockable content and a voting leaderboard, and a £5 printed map and sticker book with activity pages. Money from both goes to the hospice. Trail HQ is at The Space by St Oswald's Hospice in Ouseburn, where you can pick up a map and merchandise.

It is the fourth trail St Oswald's has run with organisers Wild in Art, following the Great North Snowdogs, Elmer's Great North Parade and Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne — so the format is well established locally. As the organisers put it, "many of the artists live and work in the North East and are painting for an art trail for the very first time," which is a nice reminder of how much of this is homegrown.

Why it matters locally

St Oswald's has been part of Gosforth since 1986, providing free palliative care for adults and children across the North East, and it needs to raise more than seven million pounds a year to do so. After the trail closes in September, the large sculptures will go under the hammer at an autumn charity auction to raise funds for the hospice's care services.

For families, it is a ready-made summer holiday adventure that costs nothing to begin and quietly supports a cause close to home. Full details, the sculpture locations and app links are on the official Tales on the Tyne website, as reported by Wild in Art.

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