Exmouth Local’s Art Auction In Aid Of Hospiscare Goes Viral
Local man George Hill is arranging an online art auction via Facebook to raise funds for his local hospice. Initially intended to stem boredom during lockdown with artists’ pieces donated for a small online auction, this event has now gone viral and reached over 17,500 people via Facebook!
Hospiscare is an amazing charity that provides a vital service across Exeter, East Devon and Mid Devon, caring for people who have been given a terminal diagnosis and providing amazing support to their families.
Hospiscare need around £8m a year to continue caring for over 2,500 patients. Only 20% of their funding comes from the government, with the other 80% coming from fundraising events, legacies, charity shops and donations.
With the lockdown in place, Hospiscare have had to cancel fundraising events and close shops and the lost revenue is going to hit them hard. They are facing a substantial loss in funds over the next few months and George really wanted to do something to help them while he is furloughed at home.
“I thought while people are bored in lockdown, what better time to get painting, drawing and getting creative? I felt so frustrated that I couldn’t help Hospiscare while I am Furloughed from work. The charity is a client of the company I work for (Brightsea Print Group) so I thought I would start an online auction and try to raise a few hundred quid… But now it has gone viral!”
George put out the call earlier this month looking for artists and creative types to donate their work to his online art auction and within one week has over 100 beautiful pieces of art up for auction!
“The response from the art community and the general public so far as been overwhelming! I can’t thank them enough for supporting this auction. I have been sent some beautiful art from local amateurs which is great, but I also have some amazing high end gallery pieces too. Honestly the quality and generosity of people has been outstanding. All I need to do now is make sure enough people get bidding!”
George has set up a Just Giving page with a target amount of £5,000 which he hopes to be able to achieve. He hopes that the public will get behind this event and make a bid on some amazing art to brighten up their days and help to keep Hospiscare delivering a vital service both at Searle House in Exeter and through the Hospiscare @home initiative, which allows terminally ill patients to die in their own homes whilst still accessing the professional care and attention that Hospiscare nurses deliver.
Sarah Smith, Head of Public Fundraising for Hospiscare said
“We are so grateful to George for doing this for Hospiscare. We are devastated that so many of our planed fundraising events have had to be cancelled during the pandemic. But thanks to many like minded and creative people coming up with amazing ideas to raise money online, we are able to keep going and are buoyed but the amazing amount of love and support shown from the public at such a strange and worrying time. We really hope that everyone gets behind this auction and we can flood the county with Art for Hospiscare.”
So how can YOU get involved?
- Head over to the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/art4hospiscare/
- Go the the photo album called ‘LOTS’ and browse over 100 beautiful pieces are artwork donated
- Comment with your bid amount and keep bidding to secure the items you want
- When the bidding closes and you are the highest bidder, donate your total to the Just giving pagehttps://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/art4hospiscare and then await your new purchase to be sent to you or pick up from the artist after lockdown.
George is very keen to stress that nobody should put themselves or others at risk during Covid-19 restrictions and urges buyers to please be patient if it takes a while to physically receive their item.
“The last thing we want to do is spread this virus but we do need to get funds to Hospiscare now! So I am counting on the trust and kindness of strangers to make this work safely and successfully.”
The bidding opens on Sunday 26th of April and will run for eek for people to get their bids in.
Bidding closes on Sunday 3rd May at 10pm and all bids will be final.
We urge you to share this with as many people as you can via social media and word of mouth. This is a great opportunity for people to support their local hospice and get their hands on some beautiful artwork from some of wonderful artists.
