Sheffield Children’s Charity is set to receive £575,000 after auctioning off its Pride of Yorkshire sculpture trail.

The event in Sheffield welcomed special guests, including Richard Hawley, Pulp’s Nick Banks, This is England’s Thomas Turgoose, Pete McKee, Sheffield United’s Femi Seriki and Chris McClure – all of whom spoke to audiences about having tribute sculptures on the trail, alongside support for the charity.

David Storch, the owner of Sheffield Wednesday, emerged as the night’s biggest live spender, dropping £26,000 on sculptures. Bids for the 150 life-sized fiberglass lions opened at a minimum of £2,000 each.

Two auctions, held in person at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and online, allowed members of the public and businesses to own one of the 130 featured lions seen on the trail earlier this year.

The 300 lion sculptures across South Yorkshire aimed to raise funds for a £20 million project to redevelop and expand the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Emergency Department.

Ruth Brown, Chief Executive of Sheffield Children’s, said: “With support from Pride of Yorkshire, we can transform our ED and Major Trauma Centre into a calm, child-friendly space that reduces fear and anxiety, supports recovery, and matches the outstanding care our teams provide every day.”