The Starchild charity’s annual art auction has gone live online in aid of vulnerable children in Uganda.
The Art for Africa auction can be accessed through a link on Starchild’s website until November 13 and features almost 100 artists.
Starchild was founded by Michaela Foster Marsh in memory of her adopted Ugandan brother Frankie, who died aged 27 in a house fire.
The auction has already raised around £16,000 and the charity hopes to reach £20,000 by Sunday.
Michaela said: “It’ll have a huge impact as it will cover all the teachers’ salaries, it will help to cover material costs in general to keep the school running and we also try to do other projects outside of the school.”
She continued: “We also have mosquito net campaign, science projects and we aim to try to take a few more people out with us to Uganda.
We have a science person from St Andrews University and we have an art therapist hoping to come with us.”
Last Wednesday Michaela was presented with a Point of Light award by the Prime Minister for her outstanding volunteer work with Starchild.
Following the auction, successful bidders can collect their artwork from the By Distinction Art gallery.
Bruce Finnie from By Distinction Art said: “This is a great idea – I mean a lot of the kids have been abandoned there. They’re not just building schools, they’re promoting art and they’ve done quite a lot to help females in the area particularly.”
Finnie named four artists who stood out. He said: “Alexander Millar’s piece is the prize lot, but there’s a small piece by an artist called Margaret Evans which is very nice and there are also some from Yvonne Taylor and Lynn Howarth.”
Previously, Starchild ran a campaign which provided sanitary care to girls going through puberty who could not afford supplies – allowing them to continue their education.
An art pack campaign will be introduced to give Ugandan children the opportunity to express themselves.
Feature photo courtesy of the Startchild website.
