Visitors to the Women’s Institute pavilion at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show will have the unique opportunity to acquire a painting by one of Yorkshire’s leading artists.
Ashley Jackson donated the watercolour to the North Yorkshire West Federation of the WI after giving a talk to its members earlier this year.
The organisation’s board of trustees has now decided to hold a silent auction over the three days of the Great Yorkshire Show in July, giving visitors the opportunity to take home a beautiful landscape painting for their own home.
North Yorkshire West Federation chairman Pauline Bowman said:
The talk by Ashley Jackson was absolutely fascinating and a real hit with our members.
It was extremely generous of him to donate this painting and we’ve really enjoyed showing it off for the last few months. Now, we’re going to find it a permanent home, and what better place to do so than the Great Yorkshire Show?
We’ll be taking bids throughout the three days of the event in our pavilion, and the winner will be notified after the show closes. The proceeds from the sale will go to WI funds, helping us to offer more exciting, informative and educational opportunities to our members and the wider community in the future.
As well as the auction, the WI pavilion will feature numerous attractions to keep visitors happy throughout the three-day show. Its members will compete in craft and food classes, and will exhibit the best aspects of the WI in the area to people calling in to find out more.
Of course, the WI is known for its cooking, baking and preserving, and the pavilion at Great Yorkshire Show is no exception. Its members are already busy making jams to sell, and will also be producing huge quantities of cakes ready for the show opening on Tuesday, 12 July 2016.
During the three days, almost 200 volunteers from the WI will use 300lb of bacon for sandwiches every morning, sell 1,200 portions of cake, and dish out a further 300lb of strawberries. Meanwhile, cheese scones and carrot cake will be on the menu for the first time and are expected to prove a hit with visitors.
The team from Welcome to Yorkshire are among those who stop by for their bacon sandwiches every year as the show gets under way, and Sir Gary Verity is probably the most famous customer to pass through the pavilion.
This year, visitors will also have chance to raid the WI’s stores, with a sale of haberdashery being held in the pavilion across the three days.
Julie Clarke, who chairs the WI’s Great Yorkshire Show committee, said:
It is always a busy and exciting three days, and of course a great deal of time and energy goes into the preparations in the weeks and months before it opens.
All the hard work is worth it when we see those happy customers enjoying a break from the hustle and bustle of the showground. We also love meeting thousands of visitors and introducing them to the modern WI – it’s never quite what they expect!
