Creativity has come to the fore in lockdown and we’ve been lucky enough to have many people lend their artistic talents to us in order to support our gardens around the country.
This week we perhaps saw one of the most unexpected fundraisers in Horatio’s Garden Scotland, when an impromptu silent auction was held for these 17 fabulous, handpainted pebble creatures!
Throughout lockdown, Sandra Rankin, mum of Lead OT Michelle Rankin at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit, has been busy painting the pebbles as a way of inspiring patients currently spending time in hospital. They’ve been particularly helpful for patients in hand therapy sessions, but soon word spread throughout the hospital and beyond which led to Sandra creating even more pebble creatures.
As lots of people wanted to buy one, Sandra decided that it was a great opportunity to support Horatio’s Garden, so with the help of Michelle and Head Gardener, Sallie Sillars, the silent auction was set up. The garden saw many people visiting throughout the week to place their bids and all the money raised will be generously donated to the charity.
The great news is that Sandra plans to continue painting over the coming weeks, with everyone’s love of the pebbles encouraging her to keep pushing creative boundaries. She’s kindly planning to hold another sale in future, so hopefully by the end of the summer everyone will have one!
We are very grateful to Sandra and Michelle for thinking of us and look forward to seeing the new pebbles soon.
