Tourism and training to benefit as businesses buy moths

Pictured with the “Amy Did It” moth are (from left) HETA chairman Malcolm Joslin, Benita Mehra, the President of the Women’s Engineering Society, and HETA colleagues Charlotte Hogben and Lucy Jessop.

TOURIST trails and training opportunities are among the opportunities being promoted by businesses with the use of the moths from the Amy Johnson Festival.

Some companies are using the brightly-coloured exhibits to raise awareness of their own businesses, and some individuals have bought the moths for private display in homes and gardens.

As the moths come down with the dismantling of the nationwide trail next week, people who missed out on the sponsorship will get a last chance to buy one and should be saving up for the grand auction on Saturday 6 May.

A total of 59 moths were decorated and displayed as part of “A Moth for Amy”, with locations including the Science Museum in London, Herne Bay in Kent and the University of Sheffield.

Closer to home there are 25 moths in Hull city centre, a further 22 around the suburbs of Hull and five in the East Riding at sites including Beverley Racecourse and Sewerby Hall.

Some of the Festival’s sponsors have taken up the option to pay extra to buy their moths but 25 will be offered in the auction sale, which will take place at the Royal Hotel Hull.

Some of the money raised from the sale, which will be conducted by auctioneers form the historic Hull firm of Gilbert Baitson, will be donated to the Hull and East Yorkshire Smile Foundation. A portion will also be used to create a fund to help develop arts and engineering projects.

Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA) sponsored the “Amy Did It” moth to promote its campaign to attract young women into engineering careers. When the moth is removed from its site in Zebedee’s Yard, Hull, HETA will continue to use it.

Charlotte Hogben, Training and Development Advisor at HETA, said: “Amy Johnson is a fantastic role model for Hull and for engineering and the design that we selected is a perfect fit for our campaign.”

Lucy Jessop, Education Links Administrator at HETA, added: “We knew what sort of message we wanted to get across from our campaign and from the Amy Johnson Festival and it was great to see that one of the designs was so appropriate.”

Allenby Commercial will retain their “Rosie the Riveter” moth on the wall of their office building in Alfred Gelder Street, Hull. The company also has two toads from the Larkin 25 trail at other sites around the city.

Georgia Allenby, the company’s Marketing Manager, said: “We sponsored the moth with the intention of buying it in the end because we knew we would want to keep it, just as we have kept the toads.

“We are committed to supporting artists and we want to use the moth to encourage people to look up and appreciate the lovely architecture that we have, particularly in the Old Town of Hull. It was the charm and character of the Old Town which attracted us into the area and we hope the same will apply to other businesses.”

Rainbow Professional, which specialises in recycling materials to create products for the forestry, horticultural, landscape and amenity markets, will move its “World Moth” from Zebedee’s Yard to its own premises in Cumberland Street, Hull.

Gary Lister, Managing Director of the company, said: “Most of our business is export and it’s very unlikely that our customers will see our moth but we sponsored it and have now bought it to support the local community so we’ll put it where people can see it.”

Rick Welton, Director of the Amy Johnson Festival, said the removal of the moths has been delayed until after the first weekend in April to give more people the chance to complete their tours of the trail.

He said: “We are really grateful to all the businesses that sponsored moths because without their support wouldn’t have had a moth trail! The whole Amy Johnson Festival has been a great success and the moth trail was a spectacular, colourful centrepiece.

“The auction will bring down the curtain on everything but it’s great to see that many businesses are being as innovative with their plans for the moths as the designers and artists were in creating them.

“We’ll release more details of the grand auction as the date approaches but for now we’re urging people to make the most of their last chance to see the moths.

“It’s a big job which some people have never got round to completing. Many of those who did might want to go and take another look, so they need to know that time is running out.

“There are still some moth trail maps available in museums and other places around the city, and moth spotters can also download an app from the official Amy Johnson Festival website.”

For details of the moths and their locations visit the official Amy Johnson Festival website at www.amyjohnsonfestival.co.uk