The moving reason why couple bought 5 St Richard's elephants

Jonathon and Carrie-Ann Dew have now kindly offered to loan the five statues to the hospice for six months so they can be enjoyed by patients and families.

They successfully bid on Global Warming, Welly Phant, Muddy Walks, Panda and Inky totalling over £100,000 during Thursday's auction at DRPG in Hartlebury.

The auction raised £368,800 for St Richard’s Hospice with the evening compered by Richard ‘Hursty’ Hurst and auctioneer Philip Serrell.

Mrs Dew said: "We are long time supporters of St Richard's Hospice because my husband's parents and my granddad were cared for by the hospice.

"It was not just about us coming away with the elephants the main point was to say thank you to St Richard's.

"The support they give you makes you feel like you are not alone, they are just amazing - I don't know how they do it day in and day out."

The couple, from Hallow, were at the auction with their daughters Rosie, seven, and Molly 14.

"They were very excited last night and if they could have they would have bought all of the elephants.

"But they are really happy with the elephants they have got."

Behind the scenes at Thursday's auctions, successful bidders could see their elephants up close.

David Ogden, CEO of The Key Safe, let his ten-year-old daughter bid on the ele-baby Spark-ele and also successfully bid on Ash.

"St Richard's is a great local charity and we've supported them before and will support them again.

"The Key Safe has always supported local charities and this is the perfect opportunity to share our success with a local charity."

Rowan and Vincent Williams will be bringing elephant Jackson to their garden in Henwick Road after the £7,000 winning bid.

Mr Williams said: "We like Jackson Pollock's style of art so it just fit the bill and would be nice in the garden."

Mrs Williams added: "I wanted something colourful in the garden that will look nice in the flowerbed.

"St Richard's is also an excellent charity to help and support, I don't think there is anyone in Worcester who doesn't know someone who has been supported by them."

Worcester Bosch will be proudly featuring the elephant it sponsored, Silverella, at the front of its headquarters in Cotswold Way.

Vic Billings and Sue Pennington successfully bid £7,200 on the elephant.

Another Worcester-based business, Spectrum Environmental, will also be bringing elephant Hive in the Herd to their offices in Checketts Lane.

CEO Steven Hunt said: "We liked it because the theme fits with our business in that we are an environmental business.

"Nobody at work knows we were here so this is going to be a surprise and go in our refectory."

Artist Jess Perrin was there on the night and spoke of her excitement.

"It's always really exciting to come to the auction especially if the bidders are in the room.

"It's great getting to meet them afterwards."

READ MORE: How much was raised at the Big Parade elephant auction for St Richard's

Artist Amrit Singh, whose elephants Azalea and Sundar went for £6,800 and £9,000, also said watching the auction was exciting.

"It's actually thrilling, you want your elephant to do as well as possible to raise as much money as it can for the charity."

Tricia Cavell, fundraising director at St Richard’s Hospice, said: “It was an incredible night at auction and we’re thrilled our herd raised £368,800 for our care.

“Each year, we need to find close to £10 million to keep the hospice doors open – 80 per cent of which comes from the generosity of our supporters.

"So, we send a heartfelt thank you to our amazing community for supporting us not just on nights like the auction but each and every day – we simply couldn’t do it without you."

Over the summer, 66 elephants paraded through the city’s streets and open spaces for eight weeks attracting thousands of visitors from all over the country.