Pictured left to right are artist Kathryn Davey, CEO of The Upper Room Chris Francis and John Horton, owner and director of Horton and Garton estate agents
Fancy looking at a new painting on your wall while helping a charity care for the homeless and residents in need?
For the third year, west London’s Artists at Home group is running an online auction to benefit Shepherds Bush charity The Upper Room. Bids can be placed between now and 9pm on Sunday 27 November.
Each artist or sculptor – there are some stunning pots and statues in the auction, too – gives 50 per cent or more of the winning sale price to support the frontline charity at St Saviour’s church in Cobbold Road, whose workload is increasing as the cost-of-living crisis bites.
The Upper Room began 30 years ago as a small-scale soup kitchen at St Saviour’s church.
There are no reserve prices on the lots, and there are nearly 100 works of art for sale, including several prints by Hammersmith artist Ben Johnson. Starting bids are set at a discount to each artist’s usual sale price, and there is a leaderboard so you can see what others are bidding.
You can visit the auction and browse the gallery of art works being offered below.
Many of the artists will be familiar to visitors to the studios and homes taking part in the popular open house weekends across Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush and Chiswick.
One recurring subject is Hammersmith Bridge, with works including a limited-edition framed photograph of the distinctive structure in a fog by Natalia Bobrova, and Isobel Johnstone’s oil painting 'Hammersmith Bridge in lockdown'.
In past years, around £7,000 have been raised by the auction to help The Upper Room’s projects. As well as giving homeless residents and residents in need the immediate help of hot meals and advice, the charity also addresses longer-term needs by assisting with finding jobs and offering counselling and therapy.
The Big Give Christmas Challenge runs from 29 November to 6 December, with all donations being matched by The Reed Foundation.
Once again, the Artists at Home Christmas Online Charity Auction is being sponsored by independent Hammersmith estate agents, Horton and Garton.
The Upper Room is also raising funds for its UR4Driving project, which helps at-risk young people and ex-offenders to gain delivery jobs by teaching them to drive in return for 80 hours of voluntary work.
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