A Perth design graduate has come up with an unusual Christmas gift idea for people still pondering what to buy for loved ones this year - a calendar inspired by her regular sightings of shopping trolleys ditched in the city’s Lade.
Cherie Gilruth found herself paying more and more attention to trolleys left in the water while out walking her cockapoo Wilma some time ago and decided to start recording sightings on her Instagram page.
The 34-year-old’s posts encouraged other site users to take their own pictures of shopping trolleys left in strange places and send them to her.
It got to the point where she once received images from users in several different faraway countries all in one day.
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The Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design graduate has now produced a calendar featuring some of her and her photographer friend Brian Menzies’ “best” pictures of abandoned trolleys, as well as some of the images she was sent, just in time for Christmas.
She is touting the 2021 calendar as “a suitably bleak gift for Christmas 2020” after a torrid 12 months due to COVID-19 and has made an initial batch of 100 for sale.
Cherie has not just produced the calendar for personal profit, however. She has very kindly offered to donate half of what she makes from her calendar to Perth Foodbank.
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She told the PA: “I just started sharing trolley pictures when I was out walking my dog and then people started sending me pictures from all over the world.
“Last Christmas I got sent eight in one day from places like Canada, Australia and Sweden.
“The majority of the pictures in the calendar are of trolleys in the Lade.
“The December picture is the one I got from Sweden because it was taken in snow.”
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Cherie went on: “It was a quick process from idea to product.
“I knocked up an online shop to sell them from and posted the link to my Instagram - 50 went in the first few days of sales.
“I’m really happy at the interest it’s had so I have sent for more to be printed.
“People have told me that they’ll make the ideal secret Santa gifts.
“I’ve had a guy buy them for all his staff at work.”
To order one or more of Cherie’s calendars visit https://oytd.bigcartel.com
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