A sculpture valued at $10,000 has been donated to a charity shop to raise funds for a project that will help support struggling mothers.

The fibreglass whale’s tale is on display in the window of Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore on Front Street. Mark Proctor, who created the sculpture, said the marine mammals were “majestic”.

He added: “I find them very powerful creatures and I just love the ocean, so it’s very different.”

The police detective constable said that he had been “dabbling around” in sculpture for about 15 years and used the hobby to “switch off” from the day job. Mr Proctor, from Southampton, spent up to 230 hours on the piece, which was called A Whale of a Tail — inspired by a book he used to read to his children.

He said: “The initial build, and the framing of it takes quite a considerable time, but the thing that takes up more time is the filing and fairing and getting that smooth, beautiful finish.”

Mr Proctor added: “One of the problems is to get it perfect. I probably filed, faired and painted it over 20 times.”

Mr Proctor said that the flukes of the tail measured about 3ft across and the sculpture stands on a base of “exotic” Bubinga Brazilian cherry wood.

The ReStore, in the former Bluck’s of Bermuda building, sells new and lightly used home furnishings and art.

It opened in June as a way to raise money for the establishment of the Transformational Living Centre for Families — a joint project between Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda and the Women’s Resource Centre.

The old Pembroke Rest Home on Parson’s Road is being transformed into the new centre.

The TLC for Families will be a residential centre for about ten mothers and their children, who will live there for up to a year while they are involved in programmes designed to help them manage on their own.

It is expected that once families are housed there, the ReStore will provide opportunities for work and skill development for the residents, as well as an ongoing source of financial support for the centre.

Mr Proctor said that he was not involved in setting the price for the sculpture, but was happy at the prospect of it raising cash for the project. He added that he believed Habitat for Humanity was a “wonderful” organisation and knew its chairwoman Sheelagh Cooper from her earlier work at the Coalition for the Protection of Children.

Mr Proctor said: “There are a lot of families in the community that do need the boost and that confidence-level assistance. I like the business model of what she’s doing with the store.”

Ms Cooper said that the sculpture was a welcome addition to the shop’s stock.

She added: “This comes at a great time for us, since we are about to expand our opening hours to a full six days a week, because of the huge demand for nearly new furniture and furnishings.

“There is just too much demand to accommodate everyone in just two days and we have been very fortunate to have found plenty of willing volunteers to keep the shop open every day beginning next Monday.

“We are so pleased with the success of the store, particularly as it is helping to finance our renovations to the old Pembroke Rest Home to accommodate the many families who find themselves homeless.”