Have you 'herd' about Nottingham's Elephant Parade?

The first Monday in January can be somewhat depressing, especially if it was your first day back after the Christmas break. But thanks to a herd of more than 30 elephants which arrived in Nottingham at the beginning of the week there was a feeling of excitement in the air as shoppers stopped to admire the colourful creatures and have their photographs taken alongside them. The elephants, which have been created by artists, local school children and students from Nottinghamshire Trent University, form part of the Elephant Parade exhibition and you can see them in the intu Broadmarsh and Victoria shopping centres. There is also an elephant at our Nottingham Tourism Centre which is the only place to have one outside the two shopping centres. The elephant was designed by Ratchakrit Wichaivo - and it has already proved to be a talking point for visitors. Centre manager Simon Redgate said: "Despite only being with us for a short while our elephant, which is called Happiness is for Everyone, has turned heads. Loads of people have come in to the centre to take a look at her and to ask more about the parade. Hopefully this will lead to a greater awareness of the plight of the Asian Elephant and lead to plenty of donations for Elephant Parade." The tour has been sponsored by intu which has worked with Elephant Parade to bring the statues to Nottingham as part of its first ever nationwide tour. The statues will visit 14 shopping centres around the UK in support of the Asian Elephant Foundation. They will also be auctioned and sold by the  the Asian Elephant Foundation to support for various elephant conservation projects. Share your pictures of the elephants via our Facebook and Twitter channels. Don't forget to use the hashtags #lovenotts and #eletour. You can also see pictures on our Pinterest Board.