Vines Group in the driving seat as Surrey Hills CowParade sponsor

Surrey: January 28, 2016: Vines Group BMW and MINI is sponsoring the Surrey Hills CowParade by providing organisers with an especially branded BMW X5 vehicle to promote the initiative

CowParade is the world's largest public art event which comes to Surrey this year with hundreds of brightly-coloured cows set to decorate the hills, farms, towns, schools and popular landmarks across the county.

Organisers want individuals, companies, schools and other organisations to sponsor a life-sized cow and either decorate it themselves or bring in an artist to do it. The cows will then be displayed around the county before being herded to the inaugural Surrey Hills Food, Drink and Music Festival on September 3 where they will be auctioned off. Those judged the pick of the herd will go to auction at a gala ceremony in London later in the year.

Proceeds will be shared equally between Surrey Hills Trust Fund, a charity established to conserve and protect the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which supports local community projects and enterprise schemes, and the individual charities selected by the cow sponsors.

In addition to supplying the promotional vehicle to Surrey Hills CowParade, Vines Group — which has showrooms in Redhill, Guildford and Gatwick — will also be sponsoring their own cow which will be decorated for auction.

The BMW brand has a long affiliation with the arts world through the highly popular BMW Art Car concept introduced in 1975 to invite prestigious artists to create a canvas on an automobile. American artist Alexandra Calder painted the first vehicle which took part in the 1975 Le Mans endurance race. Since then 17 BMWs have been painted by famous artists including David Hockney and Andy Warhol. The most recent BMW Art Car was painted by leading American artist Jeff Koons which competed at Le Mans in 2010.

Sean Kelly, Vines Group’s Managing Director, said: “BMW has a long association with the arts world though the BMW Art Cars and we feel the Surrey Hills CowParade is a brilliant arts initiative to promote enterprise in the county. We are therefore delighted to become a sponsor. As well as branding a BMW X5 to promote the CowParade, we will also have our own dedicated cow and we hope to encourage other businesses across Surrey to support this wonderful event which will hopefully raise lots of money for good causes.”

Mr Kelly handed over the keys of the BMX X5 on Wednesday, January 27, to Surrey Hills Cowparade Leader Tim Metson at Vines Group’s showroom in Redhill.

About CowParade

CowParade was born in Switzerland in 1998 and has been staged in more than 80 cities and towns worldwide. Over the years 3,000 cows have been decorated by more than 5,000 artists. CowParade New York had 450 cows and was seen worldwide by 45 million people. The highest-grossing cow was created by designer John Rocha for CowParade Dublin in 2003 — studded with thousands of pieces of Waterford Crystal it was auctioned for $146,000 — quite a lot of moo-lah indeed. For more information on how to take part call the Surrey Hills CowParade team on 01483 661150 or visit: www.surreyhillscowparade.com.

About Surrey Hills

The Surrey Hills is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, one of 38 nationally protected landscapes in England and Wales. The Hills stretch across a quarter of the county of Surrey and include the chalk slopes of the North Downs from Farnham in the west to Oxted in the east and extend south to the deeply wooded Greensand Hills which rise in Haslemere. The Surrey Hills offers some of South East England’s most beautiful and accessible countryside. Famous beauty spots include Box Hill, Leith Hill and the Devil’s Punch Bowl. You’ll discover an extensive footpath network, open commons, breathtaking views, attractive market towns and villages and much more.

The CowParade will not only help to raise awareness of this special landscape but also safeguard its future through donations to the Surrey Hills Trust Fund. For further information on the Surrey Hills please visit www.surreyhills.org.

About Vines Group

Vines Group is a private family company and is proud to have been associated with BMW in Surrey and Sussex for over 20 years. The dealerships in Guildford, Redhill and Gatwick are all managed with the same commitment to its mission statement; ‘To inspire each other to delight our customers’

PAUL SMITH ASSOCIATES
28th January 2016