Violin raises £2,600 for Saint Francis Hospice

This year we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Saint Francis Hospice E-Commerce team.  Thanks to the dedicated and knowledge of its incredible volunteers, over 40,000 items have been sold worldwide through platforms such as eBay and Vinted to raise vital income for the hospice. 

Here Mercedes Casado, the charity’s Online Trading Manager, shares how a violin that was donated, raised an incredible £2,600. 

The violin was donated through our warehouse, and like all the musical instruments, it was passed on to our E-Commerce team.  

It was initially listed on eBay for £99.99, and we began receiving bids. However, after discovering some extra information inside the violin, we stopped the auction when the bids reached £235. 

Even before we re-listed the violin on eBay with the updated information, we received calls with offers. The first offer was for £325, with the customer urging us to decide quickly. She called again and increased the offer to £680. 

Another customer called and suggested the bow might have more value and asked if we could send pictures. He told us the bow had no value, but the violin might, and recommended that we take it to Brompton’s Auctioneers, as they are experts in violins.

I decided that the best course of action was to contact Brompton's. I sent some pictures, and they got back to me and suggested it would be helpful if I could bring the violin to their office for a proper inspection.  

My volunteer, Jo, and I went to Central London, where one of the staff members was extremely helpful. He carefully examined the violin, and after the inspection, he told us it could potentially reach between £2,000 and £3,000 after repairs (including a new bridge and strings). The cost of these repairs would be paid after the auction, but they would significantly increase the value of the violin. In the end, they were very generous and did the repairs for free, as they found a bridge and strings that matched our violin perfectly. 

All the violins in the auction were displayed in Central London during the last weekend of October. Jo and I visited the exhibition on Sunday. It was a large room with two long tables filled with violins, and our violin - number 215 - was there! It had already received a bid from the online auction.  

There were many musicians playing different violins. We saw one of them deciding which violin to play, and after we introduced ourselves as being from Saint Francis Hospice, he decided to play our violin for us! We felt so proud and happy! 

The violin sold for £2,600 by the time the auction ended! The team was following the auction online. Everyone was so excited and there was an explosion of joy in the warehouse when the violin was sold for such a high amount! It was such a special moment, and we all knew the money would make a real difference to people and families who needed the care and support of the hospice.