City schoolboy organises charity dog art auction

Freddie Cannell, aged 11, has organised the auction, which will have over 60 different items up for sale, at Sheffield City Hall on April 1. The event has been supported by many of the country’s leading artists creating artwork just for this event.

In the run up to the auction, a selection of the works has been on display at John Lewis, Barkers Pool.

Freddie sais: “I love dogs, and I love paintings of dogs. Having an auction of dog paintings seemed like a good way of making money for Guide Dogs. We started out thinking it would be small, but then we got more and more paintings.”

The auction covers a whole range of artistic styles and values. There are traditional paintings, right through to more contemporary and urban art. Item values vary from a few pounds, through to those which could hopefully sell for four or five-figure sums. The only criteria was that they items must be of a dog, or contain a dog in them somewhere.”

Artists who have taken up the challenge incude Charming Baker, Mackenzie Thorpe, Sam Sopwith, Sarah Stokes and Teddy Baden. Alongside them, will be a number of items created by visually impaired artists DMO’R, Sian Healey and Branwyn Owens, as well as Freddie’s local MP Nick Clegg.

Freddie is no stranger to supporting Guide Dogs. Along with his mum and dad, he has looked after Guide Dogs during their early training or as puppies for the last seven years, having given a home to 14 dogs in that time. In 2015, at the age of 10, Freddie and his family also trekked 100km across the Sahara Desert, raising £7,000.

Visit easyliveauction.com for details.