Bidders pack Telford church at auction fundraiser

Christ Church, off New Church Road in Wellington, raised more than £2,500 at the sale which will now go towards major refurbishment work.

The lengthy auction ran for nearly four hours from 6.30pm to 10.15pm and has been hailed a huge success.

Lots included 60 pre-school toys, costume jewellery, furniture, beds, bicycles, a clothes dryer and even a bag of potatoes.

It is the fourth time the church has held an auction, with more than £9,000 raised over the previous three events.

Money raised so far has gone towards the church's new roof. Last year the building was covered in scaffolding while the £195,000 roof was installed.

This time the money will go towards refurbishment work inside the church.

John Davies, who organised the auction last Friday, said: "Now the roof is done our next job is to refurbish inside the church, creating community areas, a new toilet and a cafe area.

"We were packed through to the door for the sale and there was no space left. We worked like lunatics to get through hundreds of lots.

"We were very pleased with how much was raised. Everybody worked together and it was an exhilarating experience, but exhausting and we had to get the church back to normal for services on Sunday."

Mr Davies, who is married to the church warden Thelma Davies, added: "There was a lot of interest in the auction with hundreds of people attending the pre-view sessions."

Members of the congregation had collected donations for the auction during the past 12 months, with more than 3,000 leaflets delivered in the area advertising the sale and appealing for help.

The church has links with Holy Trinity, in Hadley, and members of that congregation also supported the event.

Mr Davies said the church would now turn its attention to the next big fundraiser, an annual garden party in the summer which has been organised for the past 10 years.