Hambling painting raffle raises £22k for church fund

A Grade I listed church has raised £22,300 towards a new heating system by raffling off a Maggi Hambling painting.

St Mary's Church in Woodbridge, Suffolk, said last December it needed to raise £200,000 after its boiler broke and needed to be placed.

To help towards that, the church sold raffle tickets to win the painting by Suffolk-born Hambling, which initially it hoped would raise £10,000, but had brought in £13,000 by January.

More than 1,000 people entered and the artwork was eventually won by Ellen Shears from Hampshire on Thursday.

"I just saw the draw on the BBC website and thought it was a brilliant idea for a great cause," she explained.

"It's a really nice painting, and a nice thing to do for charity."

Hambling, 80, from Sudbury, discovered a love for painting aged 14 and is considered one of the country's best artists.

She became the first artist in residence at The National Gallery in 1980 and is often described as a fierce woman.

Her works include land and seascapes as well as her Scallop sculpture in Aldeburgh in tribute to composer Benjamin Britten and her Oscar Wilde sculpture near Trafalgar Square in London.

Raffle tickets for the painting, called Fireworks Above the Sea, were sold for £10.

Nick Cottam, chair of the Friends of St Mary's Church, previously said the church wanted to install a low-carbon heating pump, which would also help toward the Church of England's net zero target.

Aside from the raffle, the church has already set aside £100,000 and raised another £30,000 in donations.

Rector of St Mary's, the Reverend Nigel Prior, said the raffle fundraising was a "fantastic result".

"The prize draw has been our best fundraiser to date and we are so grateful that over 1,000 people have supported us - not only from Woodbridge - but every other part of the country," he added.

"We are particularly grateful to Maggi Hambling for donating this wonderful painting.

"She generously supports so many charities in this way, and if they are local to Suffolk, even more so."

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.