A vintage Cartier clutch bag, donated anonymously to Helen & Douglas House, has fetched £2,600 at auction, making it the highest value item sold for the hospice charity and a great Christmas present for the children’s and young adults’ hospice houses.

The bag was donated to the Stow-on-the-Wold shop and the Assistant Manager, recognising that it might be something different, sent it to the retail office for valuing and sale through auction, or online, as the charity also sells through Amazon and eBay. Sarah Offill, eCommerce and Merchandise Manager, Helen & Douglas House, contacted Mallams auctioneers in Oxford, who value items for auction on the charity’s behalf and the item was passed to the auctioneers to sell.

Sarah Offill, eCommerce and Merchandise Manager, said. ‘I attended the auction on 14 December, as I had a feeling this might be a special sale for the charity and I am a vintage bag and clothing enthusiast myself. The bag had a guide price of £300-500, but bidding was slow to start, even though the salesroom was overflowing with people. Suddenly bids started to flood in, culminating with two telephone bidders competing and pushing the price up to the final hammer price of £2,600. I could hardly believe it, the tension and excitement was unbelievable and I am so happy that it raised this amount. It is enough to pay for one of our nurses to provide 1-1 care for almost a month.’