An upcycling guru from Edinburgh is hoping to raise hundreds of pounds for charity this weekend by auctioning off a unique jubilee themed table that she refurbished in honour of The Queen’s seventieth anniversary on the throne.
Cathie Purves, 63, has been running Ruby Rose Upcycling in Roseburn Terrace for over two years and has decided to combine her passions of redecorating worn out furniture with fundraising to donate money to and raise awareness of breast cancer charity Walk The Walk.
Cathie has been an avid supporter of Walk The Walk for over a decade and is hoping that the current hype surrounding The Queen’s Jubilee will attract high bids for her table at auction which takes place at the Platinum Jubilee Party In The Park event in Roseburn Park this Friday. Half of of the accepted offer will be donated to the charity.
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“I love to upcycle furniture and thought this would be a good way to celebrate the Jubilee and raise funds at the same time,” Cathie says.
“50% of whatever the sale price is will go to the breast cancer charity Walk The Walk. I’ve been working with them for years and I’ve been a volunteer for 15 years. They are a very small charity, but we raise a lot of money.”
The table up for auction shows off a stunning horn vore blue French paint colour on its legs and face which borders some vintage looking paper that lies underneath a trio of royal inspired images that are decked out in the Union Jack.
The left image is a throne with the centre piece being the iconic side profile of Her Majesty who is being looked towards by a corgi feature from the right hand side.
Cathie is hoping that the table, which took over 5 hours to revamp, sells for a triple figure price at auction with a corgi dog ornament being sold along side it.
Cathie says: “The corgi must go with the table because he has to look after The Queen. It needs to sell for over a hundred pounds really just to try and raise some money. There’s not much point of me doing all that work just to sell it for twenty or thirty pounds. If I get two hundred pounds, one hundred is going straight to Walk The Walk.”
The idea for this fundraiser stemmed from a visit from a coordinator of Scottish charitable incorporated organisation Friends of Roseburn Park, who are in charge of the Platinum Jubilee Party In The Park event.
The celebration is open to all ages and includes a fancy dress competition, a treasure hunt, dog races and various games and stalls.
Jeremy Balfour MSP has agreed to be the vendor for the auction which takes place at 3pm in the marquee tent.
Cathie says she hopes that the auction will not only raise money for Walk The Walk, but raise awareness of the charity which is always looking for new volunteers to take part in their annual walking marathon.
Edinburgh’s Walk The Walk walkathon is to be held on June 11 this year and consists of volunteers walking a full or half marathon wearing a decorated bra over their clothes.
The route begins and ends at Holyrood Park and is welcoming new participants of all genders and ages to sign up through the Walk The Walk website.
Cathie says: “Breast cancer touches all of us in one way or another, and you’ve got to remember that men get breast cancer too. The whole ethos of Walk The Walk is that you walk in your decorated bra – it’s pretty fun! Men and children are also welcome. It’s all about keeping fit and it’s all about raising awareness.”
