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Advent Calendar raises £1,500 for St Michael's

Christmas Appeal boosted by sale of donated art work

St Michael's Advent Calendar, with five of the 24 Chiswick artists who created the pictures. Left to right: Jim Cox, Jenny Sanderson, Glynis Porter, Francis Bowyer and Pam Garnet Lawson.

Dozens of art-lovers attended a party at St Michael & All Angels, Bedford Park, last Friday, for the auction of pictures from its artists' Advent Calendar. Almost all the works found buyers and the artists donated well over a third of the proceeds to the church's Christmas Appeal. With the sale of drinks and sponsorship from local businesses, the evening raised over £1,500 for St Michael's Christmas Appeal.

"It was a great evening, attended by most of the artists who created such a beautiful Advent Calendar" said Torin Douglas, one of the organisers. "We're very grateful to them for their time and effort, and their generosity in donating so much of their proceeds to the Appeal. With the collections from the Christmas services, the Appeal is set to raise over £6,000, which is a wonderful result."

The picture which attracted the highest bid was 'Winter in Dalwhinnie, Scotland' by Alfred Daniels, who was featured on television last weekend as one of the portrait-painters in BBC One's ''Star Portraits with Rolf Harris'. His painting was bought by local estate agent Derek Fletcher of Fletcher Estates for £460. There were several close contests for other pictures, including Jenny Sanderson's 'Four Calling Birds', Nigel Woolner's 'Christmas, St Michael & All Angels', and Jim Cox's 'Winter at Chiswick House'. All the artists exhibit regularly at the Bedford Park Summer Exhibition.

The party also marked the return, after three months' sabbatical, of the vicar of St Michael & All Angels, Father Kevin Morris and his wife Miriam, who'd spent Christmas in Australia. "It was a very different Christmas away from St Michael's and I'm delighted we were back in time to see the Advent Calendar before the pictures were sold" said Father Kevin.

Four charities will benefit from this year's Appeal: the Upper Room project for the homeless in Cobbold Road, Shepherds Bush; the Evangelical school in Ramallah, Palestine; the Micro Loan Foundation, a Chiswick charity which helps people in the Philippines and Malawi; and ACTS - Assist a Child To School, an educational charity in Kenya.

The Advent Calendar website was sponsored by four local businesses: Fletcher Estates and Indigo Delicafe in Turnham Green Terrace; The Green magazine; and Dan Isted of Rockboat Web Design, who created the site.

The pictures - all created by local artists in support of St Michael's Christmas Appeal - can be seen online at www.stmichaelschristmas.org .

January 16, 2004

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