Anita found Breast Cancer Now's services invaluable after her breast cancer diagnosis. She decided to host a local art auction to fundraise and give back to the charity.
Breast Cancer Now were invaluable in helping me
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2017, and living in a very rural area meant that I couldn’t easily get answers to worries and questions. Breast Cancer Now were invaluable in helping me through such a difficult time and I decided to try and turn a bad situation into something positive. I did a number of different fundraising events that eventually raised £50k for Breast Cancer Now.
One of my events was the Askrigg Art Auction Fundraiser. This idea was a fun community event that got everyone involved. I purchased 35 cheap canvases and handed them around the village, asking volunteers to paint or draw their view of Yorkshire. I ensured we had a full range of talent from local professional artists to people who had never painted since their school days.
I also gave canvases to the local school and asked them to get some of their children to paint them as well.
It was heart warming to see everyone's reactions
The artists were given a deadline of about a month. After collecting all the artwork in, we had two viewing evenings where everyone could come and look at the pieces. This was really lovely as so many of our artists surprised themselves at how well they could paint.
It was heart warming to see everyone’s reactions to the artwork, making so many people feel good about themselves.
The auction itself was held in the local pub and attracted a huge audience. A local auctioneer offered his services, and we had a great evening auctioning all the artwork, raising in excess of £3,000 for Breast Cancer Now.
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