A Royston-based charity offering vital mental health support to young people diagnosed with cancer is celebrating its fifth anniversary with an exclusive art auction featuring works by some of the UK's most exciting artists. The 5 Arts Auction, a one-off collection curated by the charity's patron, artist and music producer Remi Rough, will raise funds for Mind Over Cancer.
Remi Rough, known for his graffiti-inspired abstract compositions and large-scale murals, has brought together five artists who have generously donated original pieces. The lineup includes portrait artist, actor, screenwriter and comedian Nick Frost; non-figurative oil painter Erin Lawlor; typographic and abstract artist Gary Stranger; Nicky Hirst, who transforms found objects into art; and Remi Rough himself.
Auction Details
The artworks will be auctioned live at an invitation-only event at Woodbury House Private Art Gallery in London in June. However, one piece by Erin Lawlor is available for silent auction from now until June 5 via The Auction Collective. All proceeds will help the charity expand its free mental health support to anyone diagnosed with cancer from birth up to age 29. Around 6,500 young people in this age group are diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK.
Charity Impact
Mind Over Cancer provides ten free one-to-one online counselling sessions with a specially matched therapist for patients, their families, friends, and partners. It also offers a free online Mental Health and Wellbeing Support programme through monthly support groups. In five years, the charity has delivered over 2,500 hours of mental wellbeing sessions and supported more than 400 people.
Susie Shaw, Founder and Chief Executive of Mind Over Cancer, said: "Reaching five years old is no mean feat for a small charity. During these five years we've had a pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis but somehow, we've managed to keep going. We're incredibly proud and lucky to hold this special event and have these amazing artists supporting us. Art can be a powerful way to express feelings and is used as a form of therapy, so it feels very serendipitous to have this fundraiser for us."
Artist Remi Rough added: "It's been a privilege to bring together this brilliant group of artists in aid of such a worthy cause. Art touches all our lives just like cancer does and it's wonderful to turn what can be something so challenging and traumatic into something so positive."
How to Bid
To bid on Erin Lawlor's artwork, visit The Auction Collective at the provided link. Bids close at 4pm on June 5, and the successful bidder will be contacted on June 8. For the live auction event at Woodbury House on June 3, email contactus@mindovercancer.org.uk. More information about the charity is available at www.mindovercancer.org.uk.
