A whopping £324,200 was raised for Clan cancer support last night, as 62 Light The North sculptures found their new homes.
Each of the main 2.5m tall lighthouses were painted by talented UK artists and then placed on beaches, street corners and even shopping centres across the north-east, Moray and Shetland for 10 weeks as part of Light The North lighthouse trail.
Eight smaller sculptures were also decorated by gifted creatives, and four blank lighthouses – two tall and two small ones – also found their forever homes.
Raising money for the cancer charity, all 62 sculptures went under the hammer at Thainstone Exchange in Inverurie on Monday November 1.
Bidding hello – not farewell
Welcoming the guests were Clan’s chief executive Dr Colette Backwell, Fiona Fernie, Clan’s head of income generation and business development and project director for Light The North and Charlie Langhorne, Wild In Art’s co-founder and managing director.
He told the room of bidders: “Leave here a little less wealthy – that’s a really important part.
“You don’t want to leave here with pockets full, you want to leave here – you know, comfortable, but not wealthy.
“We talked about bidding farewell. Yes, people outside will bid farewell, your opportunity here tonight is to bid hello. Don’t forget that.”
Encouraged by Charlie’s speech, all of the sculptures were popular with bidders, with many of them turning up for the in-person auction, with additional buyers tuning in online.
Six Light The North sculptures sell for more than £10,000
Cheers rang through the Inverurie building when Riding Out The Storm, created by Rachel Davies and sponsored by BP, was sold for £13,500 – the largest sum of the evening.
Portsoy 75 Club’s representative, who bought the sculpture, said: “We set up a fundraising page and raised about £9,500 so far. I was pushed really hard there (during bidding) but we have enough funds to cover this. The lighthouse will basically be coming back to Portsoy.
“We would like to thank all the local businesses and individuals – it doesn’t matter if they donated £1 or £200 – it’s absolutely brilliant.”
The lighthouse was originally situated on Shore Street – between the old and new harbour – and it is hoped that it’ll return to its Portsoy home in the near future, once Portsoy 75 Club has planning permission from the council.
Other big sellers of the event included Hope is the Anchor of Life which sold for £11,000, Orcadian Nights and Safe Harbour which raised £11,000 each, alongside Mirrie Dancers and The Outpost, both of which sold for £12,000.
The Press and Journal, Evening Express, and Original 106 also sponsored a lighthouse each. You can watch the moment the Original 106 lighthouse was sold below.
If you want to re-live the auction or get a glimpse of the event’s atmosphere, check out our live blog from the auction.
‘Big bonkers brilliant public art trail’ hailed success
We caught up with Clan’s Fiona Fernie ahead of the auction.
She said: “It has been such a journey for us to get here and a huge success for Clan. The income part of it is really really important but there are so many other benefits that we wanted to get out of this.
“We wanted to raise spirits in people’s communities and reflect that Clan is not just for Aberdeen – it’s for the whole of the north-east. We wanted to make sure we raised awareness of the cancer support services that Clan provides. And all of these things and more have been achieved.”
The lighthouse trail – which aimed to provide a “light in the dark” for those battling cancer and their families – was organised in partnership with Wild in Art, which also helped to deliver Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail in 2019.
Charlie Langhorne of Wild In Art, said: “I think Light The North is such a great project and what Clan have done so well is that they really captured everyone’s imagination. It’s gone right the way through communities.
“I think the trail and the lighthouses gave communities, gave people a reason to come together – even if they were socially distanced, they were emotionally together.”
Wild In Art is passionate about making art accessible to everyone and encourages locals to engage with the public art trails in their communities.
Charlie added: “At the end of the day what we’ve created with our friends and partners Clan is a big bonkers brilliant public art trail. I’ve done 200 of these sort of trails in different cities around the world, but every time we do a new trail I’m always amazed at the quality of the art, the imagination of the artist – that’s what’s so special.”
Mackenzie family launch event, attend auction and praise Clan
The auction also featured an emotional video of the Mackenzie family who were chosen to launch the Light The North project back in 2019.
Harry – along with his son Harry Junior and daughter Megan – spoke about his wife Jackie who sadly lost her battle with cancer in July 2020 and praised the charity’s empathy and care.
The family previously filmed a video in 2019, four years after Jackie was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she passed away, the family wanted to tell their story and highlight the help Clan can provide to struggling families like theirs.
Megan, who attended the auction with her dad and brother, said: “It was everything we hoped it would be and more. I think if anything, it solidifies what Clan stands for us and what they continue to do for other families. The total raised tonight just shows just how much Clan needs to be here.”
Harry Junior added: “Clan is always there for everybody. If you need them, just walk through their doors and you will definitely be welcome like we were six years ago.”
Harry also bought a lighthouse called Liquid Gold which was created by Judith Berrill and shines a light on the art of Scottish whisky-making.
Megan said: “She (Jackie) is here, she’s looking down on it all.”
“Yeah, she’s going to be annoyed I bought the sparkly one,” laughed Harry.
He added: “Jackie has been part of it from the start, she was here to kick it off. It took a lot of courage for her to put herself out there and I just wanted to do something – to have as a memory of what we’ve done as a family and whenever that lighthouse goes, it’s an honour to her.
“I’m going to contact as many whisky distilleries as possible to see if we can raise even more money for Clan.”
You can watch the video that was shown at the auction below.
For more information on Clan and the services they provide, check out Clan’s website.