An Ipswich private school received a visit from a special elephant to celebrate its involvement in Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk in 2019.

Pupils and staff at Ipswich School were delighted to meet Elmer the Patchwork Elephant who – along with 49 friends – will be featured in the next art trail to hit the county in support of St Elizabeth Hospice.

Nicholas Weaver, headmaster at Ipswich School, said: “Care is one of our core values. As a result we aim to participate in and to serve our local community.

“We are therefore delighted to be supporting St Elizabeth Hospice by sponsoring an Elmer as part of the trail.

“Being part of the Elmer trail is just one of the many ways in which we are working to bring about a closer relationship between Ipswich School and the town, and we are looking forward to welcoming the many thousands of people who will be participating in the trail in 2019.”

The school hopes that their elephant will have an education theme to celebrate its position as the oldest in the town.

It is also pleased to invite trail visitors to explore a little bit of the school, which has been located on Henley Road since 1852 – and in existence since before 1399.

Norman Lloyd, campaign manager for Elmer’s Big Parade Suffolk, said: “The education element of this trail is important to us and with Elmer being such a well-known and well-loved children’s book character it seems fitting to have such a historic institution supporting us too.

“We are very pleased to be working together.”

In 2016, the Pigs Gone Wild trail helped bring in an estimated £1m to the town and the auctioning of the pigs raised £200,000 for the hospice.

It also brought around 250,000 people from across the region into town.