St Richard’s Catholic College in Bexhill have donated thousands to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in memory of former pupil, Sophie.

St Richard’s Catholic College welcomed Mari-Louise White from the charity to its Year 8 service earlier this month, where she was presented with a cheque for £35,607 by pupils and postcard artists Besiana and Georgina.

The postcard-sized art fundraising sale, #sophiespostcard took place for the third time during Summer 2022. Since 2018, the school has raised more than £82,500 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. #sophiespostcard is in memory of former pupil, Sophie Maria Taylor, who was cared for by The Royal Marsden but lost her life to cancer on 5th April 2017.

#sophiespostcard is a secret auction consisting of original postcard-sized artworks, made and donated by professional artists, designers and illustrators, plus up-and-coming artists from the school and the general public. More than 3,000 original postcard sized artworks have been created and auctioned on eBay for the event since the first auction.

St Richard’s Catholic College is extremely grateful to have received enormous support from the hundreds of artists, printmakers and designers who have contributed such incredible works of art. World famous artists and celebrities have taken part including: Sir Quentin Blake, Gilbert and George, Axel Scheffler, Lorraine Kelly, Harry Hill, Susanne du Toit, Laura Quinn Harris, Ian Murphy, Jennifer Anderson, Victoria Coren Mitchell, Loui Jover, Carne Griffiths, Kate Brinkworth, Matthew Burrows, Luke Martineau, Bob and Roberta Smith, Mark Curryer, Richard Spare, John Dilnot, Claire Fletcher, Rebecca Denton, Thomas Taylor, Liz Pichon, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Jamie Smart, Rosalind Monks, Jane Porter, Riken Parekh, Tracey English, Fearne Cotton  and many, many others.

During the auction the postcards had a starting bid of just £1 and were auctioned on eBay, making it accessible to buyers around the globe. There were over a million views on eBay this summer!

Antonia Dalmahoy, the Managing Director at The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity said:

“We are immensely grateful to St Richard’s Catholic College for their continued support of The Royal Marsden’s Oak Centre for Children and Young People, in memory of Sophie. The money raised for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity through Sophie’s Postcards will make a massive difference, helping to fund world-leading research into developing life-saving treatments for young cancer patients at The Royal Marsden. Thank you also to all the incredibly talented artists and kind bidders for their generosity.”

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Sophie’s secret postcard auction is organised by art teacher Miranda Pennington who said:

“We are so thankful to all the artists and supporters of Sophie’s Secret Postcard Auction. The first Sophie’s postcard was intended to be a one off secret postcard auction, but it was so successful that it is now held biannually. It is inspirational to see Sophie remembered in this way as she loved art. I am so proud to be part of this event which has helped make a difference to children like Sophie being treated for cancer at The Royal Marsden.”

The school would like to express their thanks to all artists, supporters and for the generosity of all the bidders. A special thank you to helpers: Helena Jones, Kirsten Britt and Clare Bell, Gail McKay and Custard Design for printing and Portfoliobox for hosting our website.

The fourth Sophie's Postcard will run during the summer of 2024 with the final days of the auction to be held on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June 2024. To keep up-to-date with our future fundraising plans, visit www.sophiespostcard.com.

The school has published a catalogue featuring all the amazing postcards from the 2022 Sophie’s Secret Postcard Auction. All profits go to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The catalogue has over 100 pages for just £16 via eBay - search sophiessecretpostcardauction to find out more.