Auction and jumble sale raises thousands for National Trust

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25: An auction today and a jumble sale raised a record amount to help protect Bermuda’s historical buildings.

Auctioneers were tonight still totting up the figures, but an oval mahogany dining table by English maker Arthur Brett notched up $1,700 on its own.

Earlier, two sets of Bermuda china plates went for more than $1,000, while a French Impressionist painting by Andre Civet went for $1,250.

Auction volunteer Linda O’Shea said: “In the past, this auction has had the reputation of being where you can pick up fantastic bargains in furniture and we still have that.”

Bermuda National Trust director of operations Kelly Way said: “It’s gone really well – we don’t have the final figures, but the jumble sale’s already broken the record.”

Among the rest of the 320 lots at the auction were a load of horse manure, what was described as a “collection of erotic books”, as well as upmarket Dresden and Lladro china, and rare Bermuda cedar furniture.

Ms Way said: “We had an incredible range of things, with a lot of extremely high quality items and we’re very grateful to everyone who donated items for the auction.”

The earlier jumble sale pulled in an estimated $10-15,000 for the Trust’s work in preserving the island’s unique architectural heritage.

Trust jumble sale volunteer Marielyce Watner said: “It was fantastic. I’ve been doing it for a few years and this was a record for sales and income.

“All the money raised goes to the Trust and everything is donated, so it’s pure profit.”

After the three-day jumble sale at the Botanical Gardens ended on Saturday afternoon, only a handful of items remained from the hundreds that had been on sale.

Ms Watner said: “Probably the recession means people are bargain-hunting a bit more than they used to.”