Terry's story

Terry Brett is the owner and manager of the Pyramid Gallery in the centre of York. He’s been fundraising for St Leonard’s for over 20 years, and has recently released the fourth volume of his Good Rabbits Gone book series.

Here, he talks about his inspiration behind fundraising for the Hospice and creating this much-loved series.

“In 2003, my dad died in a hospice where he lived in Hertfordshire. He only spent one night there, and while he was in pain, he was in quite good spirits. They took wonderful care of him.

“I realised how important the work of a hospice is, so I knew I wanted to fundraise for my local hospice one day.

“I’ve always been involved in charity fundraising, as my mum was a girl guide and a big charity person. Right from the early days, I was always helping her raise money for something. It’s a habit!

“The first exhibition we did in the gallery for St Leonard’s was around 2004 or 2005. Most years we’ve done something for St Leonard’s or other charities, but the Hospice is my favourite. It’s a really good, necessary organisation and the Fundraising team is very lovely. You always get a warm reception every time you come to the Hospice.”

Terry started creating the first Good Rabbits Gone book during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I’ve drawn the rabbit shape since 1995 as an homage to the pet rabbit we had in the ‘90s. One year, we created a family wall hanging using fabric and stencils, and my contribution was drawing the rabbit.

“Following this, I started making Christmas cards every year featuring the rabbit, telling the tale of what had happened in the year. I called it a pantomime. I’ve done this every year since, and this year it was number 30.

“Sometimes I’d draw the rabbit shape with the face of someone who’d died in the year, and that’s how Good Rabbits Gone started. I soon amassed a collection of drawings, which I put in a book together. The drawings weren’t very good, but I knew that if I gave the book away and asked people to donate to charity, it didn’t really matter.

“Good Rabbits Gone is done with humour, but there’s also respect for the people featured. I often find myself putting little comments about how the person relates to me as well, if they do. I started to realise that when I’ve got to about 20 of these books, it’s going to be like an autobiography. I always have my grandchildren in mind when I create them.”

Alongside the Good Rabbits Gone books, Terry and the Pyramid Gallery are also selling the studio ceramics of Peter Hirschmann in aid of St Leonard’s. Kindly donated by Peter’s wife, Denise, after his death in 2024, over £4,000 has been raised so far for the Hospice in his name.