By Lauren Beavis
A dad has installed a giant dinosaur sculpture in his front garden – to ‘give people something to smile about’.
Ben Maddocks, 50, has put the 10ft T-Rex on top of a shipping container which he uses as a garage.
The dad, of Bristol, originally bought the metalwork from a garden centre for his son Noah, 6, who is ‘into dinos big time’.
Ben said: “When we saw it up for sale, we thought we would buy that for Noah.
“Because of Noah being autistic and into dinosaurs, he’s got boxes, boxes and boxes of dinos.”
The nine-foot-six dinosaur has been living in Ben’s back garden for about three years, but Ben recently decided he wanted to put it on the roof of his house.
The father-of-eight explained: “Ultimately, we wanted to put it on the roof of the house – but it weighs so much, about a quarter of a tonne – so we were worried it might come through the ceiling!
“So I bought myself a shipping container, which is my garage, and thought I’d put it there for my son Noah, given his passion for dinos, but also to give children something to smile about.
“I didn’t expect it to do what it’s done – but don’t get me wrong it does stand out of course!
“Noah didn’t know I had put it up as he was at school – so when he came home around the corner, he was like ‘Oh my god, my dino is on the roof!’.
“He believes it climbed up there himself..
“It’s amazing – the amount of children who stop to look and smile, cars that stop to take pictures.
“It’s lovely that it is bringing a sense of smile and positivity to the community.
“Rather than having lots of negativity, it is something that is making people happy.
“There’s not a lot to smile about lately, so it’s making kids’ days.”
The sculpture is made out of metal, and Ben says he was able to get it on the container with ‘great difficulty’.
He said: “I lifted it on with ropes and stuff but got it up there.
“He’s well bolted down as you don’t want that falling on your head!”
Avid biker Ben also voluntarily runs Bikers in Bristol as well as being a full-time carer for his dad.
He said the dinosaur will remain at their home for a long time.
He added: “If I come across something a bit weird, different or unusual, I normally buy it because, as my wife says, that’s the way I am.
“We just get on with things and enjoy it, and if the kids are happy, I’m happy.
“Because its brought such a sense of happiness to lots and lots of people, the dino is not going to be coming down anytime soon.”
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