VIP guests treated to exclusive auction preview

VIP guests were treated to an exclusive preview of antiques going under the hammer at a Cotswolds auction house, while enjoying locally-produced cider, and finding out more about a charity for farmers.

The event at the salerooms of Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester on Wednesday, February 15 gave guests the chance to learn more about the work of the Addington Fund, which supports farmers at times of need or crisis.

The special private viewing was held ahead of the Sporting Sale two days later.

The Warwickshire-based charity provides assistance for farming families living in England and Wales who have to leave the industry, through no fault of their own, and by doing so will lose their home.

“Spiralling house prices mean that when tenant farmers have to leave tied properties, even if they have saved for a home, they may not be able to afford one – especially in the Cotswolds. The fund helps to bridge that gap,” said the charity’s chief executive Ian Bell.

And the organisation, which was set up as a response to the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak – when it distributed grants totalling £10.3 million to over 22,000 applicants – is still reacting to disasters, like the devastation caused by Storm Desmond in December 2015.

“We had a call at six o’clock in the morning from a north of England farmer with 400 stranded ewes in two foot of water,” said Mr Bell. “By lunchtime they were all in a lorry heading for pastureland in the south.”

And, as Mr Bell told guests, the charity is also helping young farmers get a foothold in the industry.

“We’re starting to get legacies,” he said. “Eight farmers without children have left their farms to us in their wills, on the proviso that rather than selling the land we let it to young farmers looking for their first tenancy.

“We now have assets valued at £12 million, and since 2001 we have distributed £12.5 million in grants.”

Moore Allen & Innocent has been a supporter of the charity for many years, and the two organisations will share a platform at this year’s Cotswold Show – of which the company is a lead sponsor – as they have done in the past.

Senior partner Mark Hill said: “We have been working with the farming community in the Cotswolds for 170 years, and the Addington Fund does a large amount of work in supporting that community. We’ve very much enjoyed working with them.”

With the support of Cotswold Taste, a new quality marque for food and drink originating in the Cotswolds, the event was also an opportunity for guests to sample local produce, including Sabre and Beard cider, which is produced at the same complex of Norcote Workshops at which Moore Allen & Innocent holds its auctions.