From 21^st August until 27 October, Croydon town centre is being transformed into an enchanting open-air art gallery. The borough will be the new home of more than 30 spectacular giraffe sculptures, one of which is supported by Crystal Palace Football Club.

As a showcase event for This is Croydon, London Borough of Culture for 2023, Croydon Stands Tall celebrates the diversity and creative spirit of Croydon while raising funds for Crisis, the national charity working to end homelessness, which has a centre in the heart of Croydon which players from the club have previously visited.

To support this campaign, the club has designed its very own 8-foot giraffe, which was decorated by MurWalls, the team who painted Wilfried Zaha’s mural. The giraffe’s design features several crests from different periods of the club’s history, and will be housed at Boxpark, East Croydon.

The club encourages supporters and their families to take part in the full trail – searching for all 30 giraffes – assisted by a free dedicated trail map and app soon to be available, which will unveil the colourful creatures at every turn, providing exciting rewards and fact-finding missions along the way.

There is also a smaller 4-foot version of the giraffe displayed at the Fanzone at Selhurst Park, which supporters are welcome to take pictures with ahead of the club’s first Premier League home fixture against Arsenal tonight.

To end the trail, Croydon will host a special farewell weekend where all the giraffe sculptures will be displayed together. The club’s sculpture will then be auctioned in aid of national charity Crisis, raising vital funds for the charity’s Croydon Skylight centre which offers vital help to those who need it with housing, jobs, health, and wellbeing support, in a bid to help people leave homelessness behind for good.

Crystal Palace Chairman Steve Parish said: “Croydon Stands Tall is a brilliant project which we are proud to support, with our very own special giraffe. The art trail is a great way to spend a few hours for local residents and families, but it will also attract visitors to the area as part of the London Borough of Culture celebrations.

“Our players have visited Crisis Skylight in Croydon before and hopefully the auction at the end of the project will raise a significant amount for their important and valuable work.“