Generous Shropshire farmers get ball rolling on auction centre fundraising for Lingen Davies
A charity fundraising appeal for Lingen Davies Cancer Support has got off to a flying start, thanks to the generosity of county farmers, livestock buyers and auctioneers.
Halls auctioneers have joined forces with the charity to celebrate the 20th birthday of Shrewsbury Auction Centre with a Lingen Davies Farmers Day on Tuesday, April 7.
Farmers are being asked to consider donating a lamb, sheep, calf or cow to be auctioned for the charity or to make a cash donation and Halls will donate the sale commission.
Individual farmers can choose whether or not to support the charity.
Such is the support in the farming community for the appeal that donations are already being made at Shrewsbury Auction Centre and Bishops Castle Livestock Market.
During the weekly sale at Bishops Castle on Friday, W. G. Richards and Co, Mellington donated a hogget to the appeal which sold to livestock buyer Martin Pope.
He immediately resold the hogget and this happened five times, raising £800 for Lingen Davies.
The other buyers were Richard Edwards, Glyn Page, Nigel Kinsey and Halls director and auctioneer James Evans.
“It was a fantastic start to the appeal and a great example that farmers don’t have to wait until April 7 to donate an animal for auction at either Shrewsbury Auction Centre or Bishops Castle livestock market,” said James. “It’s entirely up to individual farmers if they wish to donate an animal or part of the proceeds of a sale to Lingen Davies. They may prefer to make a cash donation, but there is no pressure on them to donate.
“The hogget donation by W. G. Richards and Co is an example of the generosity that exists in the farming community. They donated the hogget now because they will not have them to sell in April, which might be the case for other farmers.
“We all hope that we will never need cancer treatment but, if we do, it’s reassuring to know that Lingen Davies is there to help.”
The Farmers Day is the idea of Stuart Ashley, a sheep and beef farmer from Cothercott, near Shrewsbury who’s a member of the Lingen Davies Shrewsbury fundraising committee.
He donated a hogget at Tuesday’s livestock market at Shrewsbury Auction Centre and raised £150 for the charity.
Another £50 cash donation was made to the Lingen Davies Cancer Support account opened by Halls.
All the money raised will go to a £5 million Sunflower Appeal launched to open a Lingen Davies Cancer Centre with 30 chemotherapy bays 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.
Angela Hill, a Lingen Davies Cancer Support community fundraiser and chairman of the charity’s Shrewsbury Fundraising Committee, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the great response within a week of launching the appeal. Our thanks go to all the farmers and buyers concerned for their generosity.”
In addition to support from Halls, Shropshire YFC has adopted Lingen Davies Cancer Support as one of their charities this year.
