Guernsey Mind raffling handmade guitar

The mental health charity is in the OSA pop-up shop on Smith Street this week, taking donations for the draw and selling greeting cards created by local artist Ems Le Tocq, in association with The List.

The money raised will go towards funding the therapy service, which is currently in high demand, and ongoing community work and workplace training.

‘We don’t get any States funding so that will be main part of where the money will go,’ said campaigns and events coordinator Maddy Diligent.

Etablle guitars, which was known to the fundraiser sponsor Alter Domus, was approached by Guernsey Mind to construct the bespoke instrument. The company was determined to use materials that were of the highest quality but also special and meaningful.

The guitar is made of Hawaiian Koa, which is only grown in Hawaii where it is protected and carefully harvested.

‘The concept was to make it inclusive by giving everyone the chance of winning, whether you donate £10 or £1,000, rather than doing it as an auction,’ said Ms Diligent.

Donations can be made in the pop-up shop or only at the JustGiving page, which also tells the story of why the materials were made and what makes it such a special piece.

About £850 of a £5,000 target has been donated so far, ahead of the draw date on 12 December.

The guitar has been engraved with the national Mind logo. The newly-appointed chief executive of the charity, Sarah Hughes, posted a video of it on her Instagram story.

‘We are getting donations from the UK too, which is always a good thing,’ said Ms Diligent.

She said that hosting the pop-up shop and launching the fundraiser ahead of Christmas time would mean town was not as busy, and some people would feel less overwhelmed.

The shop is open every day from 8pm-4pm until tomorrow.

n For each £10 donated a number will be allocated. Online donations can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/etablleguitars.