Over £300,000 raised at 'Light the North' charity auction

The lighthouse sculptures went under the hammer to raise funds for Clan Cancer Support.

The in-person and on-line auction raised £324,200 for the Scottish cancer charity. 

'Light the North' was the latest art sculpture trail in Scotland, and the largest displayed in the North East. The 2.5m tall lighthouses, designed by UK artists, were on display across the North East, Moray and Shetland for ten weeks. 

All 50 large designed lighthouse sculptures, eight small designed lighthouses, two small and two large blank lighthouses were sold in the grand finale in Inverurie on Monday November 1. 

Fiona Fernie, Clan's Head of Income Generation and Business Development and Project Director for Light the North, says, “We are still coming down from cloud nine. We are so grateful to everyone who generously placed their bids last night to be in with the chance of owning one of these incredible sculptures. We had a figure in mind, but this has surpassed that. "

The highest bid of the evening went to ‘Riding Out The Storm’ created by artist Rachel Davies and sponsored by bp. The lighthouse raised £13,500 and was purchased by the Portsoy 75 Club who raised the funds via a crowdfunder to ensure the sculpture returned to Portsoy, where it spent the 10 weeks of the trail.  

Fiona continues, "The auction finale was the culmination of two years of hard work on this project with the curve ball of COVID-19 thrown in. It may have taken longer than anticipated to bring the lighthouse trail to the North East of Scotland, but I think we can all agree it was worth the wait. To see how the people of Scotland took the trail to their hearts and the resulting funds it has raised is something that the Clan team will not forget and are very grateful for.

"Cancer patients have been particularly hard hit during the pandemic due to delays in diagnosis and treatment. Clan has helped people live with and beyond a cancer diagnosis for over 38 years, but we need the support of projects and events such as ‘Light the North’ to continue being here for them and to support even more people which is exactly what the incredible funds raised last night will do.

"We want to take this final opportunity to thank everyone involved in making the trail, farewell weekend, and auction possible - from the Wild in Art team, artists, sponsors, media partners, schools and local businesses to our incredible volunteers, team at Clan and of course the general public. These vital funds will help people live with and beyond their or their loved one's cancer diagnosis and improve the quality of life for all those who turn to us for support."