Fundraisers look for sculptor to create Edinburgh statue honouring First World War heroine Dr Elsie Inglis

Organisers of a campaign to honour a Scottish First World War heroine with a statue in Edinburgh are on the search for a sculptor as they close in on their fundraising target.

The tribute to Dr Elsie Inglis is set to become a reality after a fundraising drive, coupled with a donation from Edinburgh University and a grant from Edinburgh World Heritage, brought the total raised to almost £47,000.

The statue will finally honour medical pioneer Inglis at the site of the first hospital she set up on the capital’s High Street in 1904.

She created 14 Scottish Women’s Hospitals, all-female units helping the French, Russians and Serbs on the frontline of the war, and was also a tireless campaigner in efforts to win women the vote.

A crowdfunding page has now been created to top up the campaign, with 94% of the target met.

The project team are now taking forward plans and begin the process of inviting artists to submit their commissions.

The planned date for the unveiling of the statue is 2024, exactly 120 years after the Royal Mile Hospice, which cared for the city’s poorest women and children, opened its doors.

Fundraising for the statue was started in 2017, 100 years on from Inglis’ death, by Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, Frank Ross, and was bolstered in 2020 when Thea Laurie and Fiona Garwood co-founded the A Statue for Elsie Inglis campaign.

Ross said: “As a city, we have really rallied together to support a statue for Elsie and I’m so humbled by the response. We are now so close to being able to commemorate all that Elsie achieved and everything she has stood for in the century since she died.

“The efforts of everyone involved have been tremendous and I thank every single person who has donated, attended an event or volunteered. We’ve seen the Girl Guides raise thousands of pounds through their ‘Sit Still’.

“We’re receiving substantial donations from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh World Heritage and we just need a little bit more money to reach our goal of £50,000.’”

The final design, expected to be one and a quarter life size, will embody Elsie’s achievements for posterity in bronze.

The campaign’s aim is also to involve more young people, helping to secure Elsie’s learning legacy via a unique competition open to all schoolchildren, the winners will also be invited to attend the official launch ceremony.

Christina Sinclair, Director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: “This statue will be a valuable step forward in acknowledging the women that have made Edinburgh the city that it is today. Edinburgh women’s achievements have been long overlooked by public sculpture, and a statue of Elsie Inglis will go some way to addressing that historical oversight.

“We look forward to working with the Statue for Elsie Inglis Campaign Project team to help create a piece of public art that matches the importance of her work, augments the Royal Mile, and highlights the role that women have played in Edinburgh’s history.”