It may have been wet and blustery outside on the evening of Saturday 2 November but inside Haddon Galleries on Torquay harbourside there was lots of warm spirit and generosity at a special event which raised over £4,200 for the THHN (Torbay Holiday Helpers Network). Haddon Galleries was recently named as this year’s Fine Art Retailer of the Year and the event doubled up as a celebration as well as a wonderful evening of fundraising. The THHN gives free holidays to families who have seriously ill and bereaved children, recently bereaved families, couples who have lost a child and to families who have a terminally ill parent.
Fiona Haddon, owner of the gallery, said “We had a really lovely time on Saturday and the support we received from so many of our artists and suppliers was overwhelming. It would not have been possible without some amazing donations and we are extremely grateful to everyone who pitched in.” She added “Obviously we wanted to celebrate our recent award but it was especially nice to tie up with the THHN and be in a position to raise such a lot of money for this fantastic charity.”
The gallery was open all day with artists Laura Wall and Mike Jackson painting and signing prints. Raffle tickets were on sale with some fantastic prizes up for grabs and in the evening the gallery became a party venue with some delicious nibbles and refreshments very kindly donated by Waitrose Torquay and music from great duo, Noteable. Then it was time for the auction which featured over 20 amazing lots all of which had been donated.
Luke Tillen, founder and Chairman of the THHN, said “A huge thank you to our good friends at Haddon Galleries in Torquay. We really cannot thank Fiona and Paul Haddon and all their staff enough for hosting such a wonderful event and for donating 5% of their gallery sales throughout the day on top of everything else. I must also thank our fantastic volunteers who helped and the brilliant Brian Lewis, our Fundraising Manager, who co-ordinated everything along with our photographer Dougie Worthington of Peacock Dreams Photography who was busy taking a lovely selection of photos of the event.”
Brian said “I’m delighted with how well the event went. There was a great turnout of people and the lots in the auction were really impressive. Such donations are so vital to enable us to raise funds for the extremely special project we now have underway to build a bungalow for families with very high level care needs. So, my thanks to everyone who helped out with this event, including our wonderful auctioneer for the evening, Gerald Arnold.”
For more information on the THHN visit www.thhn.co.uk and to catch up with all the goings on at Haddon Galleries visit www.haddongalleries.co.uk.