Chestnut Tree House and Brighton Dome join forces for the Big Heart Auction 2016

The Big Heart Auction is a very special charity art auction, raising money for Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice and Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival.

The auction will include a wonderful range of donated artwork from professional local, national and celebrity artists, illustrators and photographers. All the works will be available to purchase via the online auction on Ebay running from 1-10 July and you can view them all online at www.bigheartauction.org.uk.

One highlight for 2016 is 'The Art Bird' by the immensely popular Sussex-based children's illustrator Sir Quentin Blake. Sir Blake says "I am delighted to donate The Art Bird painting to Chestnut Tree House for their Big Heart auction. As a children's book illustrator I'm particularly pleased to be able to support this wonderful children's charity in this way and I hope that my contribution will enable them to continue their invaluable support for so many families."

This year's Big Heart Auction is also taking a roadtrip around Sussex to ensure more people have a chance to see and experience the wonderful art included in the auction. Opening at the Candida Stevens Gallery in Chichester on 15-17 February, selected pictures from the auction have also been to Crawley on 25-29 April, Worthing Dome on 16-17 May, Towner Art Gallery Eastbourne on 7-9 June and will be at St Mary in the Castle Hastings on 21-23 June and Brighton Dome 1-5 July.

Sarah Arnold, Head of Fundraising Development at Chestnut Tree House, commented “Our Big Heart Auction returns after the phenomenal success of last year where we raised over £30,000. I’m overwhelmed at the generosity of Sussex’s artistic community and very proud to reveal today the artworks we have in our Big Heart 2016 collection. We have a terrific breadth of work available to bid on and will continue to add artworks in the coming months, so do keep returning to our website to see the latest additions.”

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival said “Buoyed by the success of last year’s auction, it’s a delight to partner with Chestnut Tree House for an event that is becoming a real highlight of the local art scene. To see people’s creative flair translate into funds that help support local charities is a great thing. We are so grateful to the artistic community for supporting the event by donating their works.”

The inaugural auction in 2015 was a huge success raising over £30,000 with a number of celebrity donations, which included a Tony Ross picture given by David Walliams. On donating Walliams said “I was only too happy to get involved with Chestnut Tree House’s inaugural Big Heart Auction. I saw first-hand the amazing work the hospice does caring for children with life-shortening conditions and their families when I was privileged enough to visit the house and read to the children. I know that the funds raised from the auction will make a real difference to children and their families across Sussex.”

The 2016 Big Heart Auction couldn’t take place without the generous support of both our headline sponsors Green People and Classic Consulting, both of whom have been long standing supporters of Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice.