Dowager Countess Bathurst, Phillip Allwood of Moore Allen & Innocent, Gail Tuke-Hastings, chairman of the Cotswolds Fundraising Branch of the NSPCC, Antiques Roadshow host Fiona Bruce, art expert Phillip Mould, and Patrick Weaver, Head of NSPCC South West region at the 2010 Country House Car Boot
Antiques experts from Moore Allen & Innocent will be offering a valuation service with a difference in September – at a car boot sale.
The firm is sponsoring the NSPCC’s Country House Car Boot at Lodge Park, in the Cotswolds, and auctioneer and valuer Philip Allwood and his team will be visiting stallholders to give them advice on pricing their wares.
The car boot sale is expected to attract thousands of visitors to Lodge Park, at the Sherborne Estate near Northleach. The National Trust property is England’s only surviving 17th Century grandstand.
Around 130 posh car booters are expected to attend the event, paying upwards of £50 to flog their wares. Securing a pitch is by invitation only, to ensure what organisers call a “better quality find” for bargain hunters.
Visitors will pay £5 per car to enter the Sherborne Estate. Besides browsing the car boot pitches, they’ll be able to look around the grandstand and enjoy woodland walks. There will also be face painting, fair ground rides, ice cream and candy floss on sale for children.
While the emphasis of the event is on fun, there’s a serious aim to the event. Money raised from the Country House Car Boot will help support the ChildLine Schools Service.
By 2016 the NSPCC aims to visit every primary school in the UK at least once every two years, ensuring children understand abuse in all its forms and how they can protect themselves and seek help.
The charity hopes to start a societal change that will bring about a long term reduction in child cruelty
This will be the third time that Moore Allen & Innocent has sponsored the biennial event. Auctioneer Philip Allwood said: “We are delighted to once again be sponsoring the Country House Car Boot, which is a great event staged at one of the most interesting and historically important locations in the Cotswolds.
“As a father and a local businessman I believe the NSPCC is the ideal charity to be supporting, and in these times of austerity they need our support more than ever.”
Anna Keir, community fundraising manager for ChildLine, said: “In 2010 over £20,000 was raised and the event attracted over 5,000 visitors. We are hoping that this year’s event will be just as successful.
The Country House Car Boot will be held on Sunday, September 23 at Lodge Park, Sherborne Estate, Gloucestershire, GL54 3PP from 9am until 3pm. To apply to be a stallholder contact Anna Keir on 01454 772290 or email anna.keir@nspcc.org.uk