'This is our chance to give back': Appeal to farmers as anniversary auction set to support Shropshire cancer charity
Auctioneers and Lingen Davies Cancer Support are appealing to farmers to support a special charity fundraiser to celebrate the 20th birthday of Shrewsbury Auction Centre.
Halls, based at Battlefield, Shrewsbury, is planning a Lingen Davies Farmers Day at its weekly livestock market on Tuesday, April 7 when farmers will be offered the chance to donate a lamb, sheep, calf or cow to be auctioned for the charity or to make a cash donation.
It will be left to individual farmers to decide whether they wish to support the charity or not. Halls will donate its commission from the sale of donated livestock to the charity.
The auction is timely, as a £5 million appeal has been launched to open a Lingen Davies Cancer Centre at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital. Currently, patients from the Telford area must travel to the busy Lingen Davies Cancer Centre at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, which also serves the Shrewsbury area and Mid Wales.
The Farmers Day for Lingen Davies Cancer Support is the brainchild of Stuart Ashley, a sheep and beef farmer from Cothercott near Shrewsbury who is also a member of the charity’s fundraising committee.
He approached by Shrewsbury Auction Centre manager Jonny Dymond and Halls director James Evans who immediately agreed to combine the Lingen Davies Farmers Day with the 20th anniversary celebrations.
“Lingen Davies Cancer Support does fantastic work in making a positive difference for people affected by cancer in communities across Shropshire, Telford and Mid Wales,” said James. “We all know someone who has been diagnosed with cancer.
“This is our chance to give back to enable the charity to support even more patients. Farmers who attend Shrewsbury Auction Centre to sell and buy livestock are very loyal and generous people and I feel confident that they will support the charity on the day.”
Stuart will be donating a hogget to the auction and says he hopes the farming community get behind the charity.
“Most farmers will either have lost someone to cancer or have a family member or friend who has been successfully treated or is currently having treatment,” he said. “We are all in the same boat and this auction is a chance for us farmers to all work together to do something good," he said.
“Nobody is going to be under pressure to donate money, but every little bit helps. If this fundraising auction does work, then it will be hats off to farmers for their support and to Halls who have been fantastic.”
Angela Hill, a Lingen Davies Cancer Support community fundraiser, was successfully treated for cancer 10 years ago. She is also chairman of the charity’s Shrewsbury Fundraising Committee.
“I choose to work for the charity due to the great results from my treatment during my cancer journey through Lingen Davies,” she said. “I am a farmer’s daughter and my family have had and continue to have a lot of dealings with Halls.
“Halls agreeing to combine the Lingen Davies Farmers Day with the 20th anniversary celebration at Shrewsbury Auction Centre is an amazing opportunity and forum for us to promote the work we do across our region,” she said.
“We help and assist people who are sadly diagnosed with cancer across Shropshire, Mid Wales and Telford and Wrekin. To be able to open an additional treatment centre with 30 chemotherapy bays in Telford would double chemotherapy capacity across the region, taking pressure off Shrewsbury and benefiting everybody.”
In addition to support from Halls, Shropshire Young Farmers' Clubs has adopted Lingen Davies Cancer Support as one of its charities this year.
