Edinburgh charity: Maggie's Edinburgh put in the picture with largest single art event donation of £114,000

Incredible donation is a welcome boost for the Edinburgh charity

Maggie’s Edinburgh has received its largest ever donation from an art event, with an NFT Art Auction raising an incredible £114,000 for the Western General-based charity.

Non-fungible token (NFT) art refers to digital assets stored on a blockchain that represent content or even physical items. Trevor Jones, a luminary in NFT art, raised money for Maggie’s Edinburgh during a charity auction at the yearly Web3 Castle Party near Paris. Significantly, this donation holds the record for the largest amount ever contributed from an art event to Maggie’s Edinburgh in its 27-year existence.

Maggie’s Edinburgh, renowned for its unwavering dedication to offering complimentary cancer support, now finds itself at the receiving end of this unprecedented act of kindness. The funds, raised at the charity event hosted at Château de Vallery, are earmarked to assist in the well-being of cancer patients and their families. Moreover, these funds are set to support around 4,000 individuals battling cancer and extend a helping hand to locals in dire straits.

Maggie’s Edinburgh Centre fundraising manager Samantha Lea with NFT artist Trevor Jones.

Maggie’s Edinburgh Centre fundraising manager Samantha Lea was blown away with the art auction donation. She said: “It’s mind-blowing, absolutely mind-blowing. We just didn’t know how the auction would go. We didn’t know who the artists were and we were completely blown away by how much it raised. We just didn’t know it would go this big. It’s a fantastic donation for an art event.

"We have had large donations over the past 27 years from individuals and events, but it is certainly the largest donation from an art event. It costs around £3,000 a day to open the centre, so you can tell how much this incredible donation will help us. We estimate 4,000 visits a year will be supported by this donation.

"We get donations from all sorts of people but we have to raise a certain amount of money to keep the centre running. This donation is the first of its type to raise so much money. We are just really delighted that Trevor managed to get so much support for his art auction. He has been a really great supporter of ours over the years. He wanted to do something special and he was able to do that with this auction and the NFT community who got behind him, which is really fantastic.”

Samantha said that Maggie’s Edinburgh’s relies almost entirely on donations, with all of its services free to use for patients and their loved ones. She added: “There is no need to make an appointment with us or get a referral, our services help anybody affected by cancer.”

The NFT blockchain technology with digital artistry equips artists with a unique toolkit to show off their masterpieces. Speaking about his NFT art auction donation, Trevor said: “This act not only pays tribute to artists we’ve lost to this ailment but showcases the collective power of the NFT community.”