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URGENT calls have gone out for donations of furniture and bric-a-brac to be made to help St David’s Hospice Care to restock its retail shops across south Wales.

Income from the hospice’s 38 shops is a vital id helping raise funds to pay for its services, provided free across the south Wales community to those in need.

Hospice retail regional manager Ross Hughes said: “The response to our shops re opening has been phenomenal but we now desperately need quality donations of furniture and other quality goods to satisfy the demand.

“They were people virtually knocking at the doors of the shops when we reopened, The support of our customers has been immense. We can’t thank them enough.”

Ross, visiting the hospice’s store in Caldicot, of the its largest, said: ” We’ve got 38 shops all over the South Wales area and since  we’ve been back open over a month ago the support of our customers has been fantastic. The generosity shown has been phenomenal.”

“We are now appealing to people to donate to us so that we can maintain the level of high quality goods that we are recognised for stocking in our 38 retail shops.”

Caldicot store manager Charmaine Fuller, who manages the shop with Jane Ferguson, said: ” Since we’ve reopened we’ve been very fortunate in being able to welcome back our hardcore loyal customers have returned to us.

“We’ve had wonderful support. We are still looking for good quality donations. We desperately need good quality bric-a-brac clothing and furniture. A shop of this size needs constant replenishment  of stock to ensure our customers are kept happy so we can generate funds for the hospice.

Jane Ferguson said: “Since we reopened we’ve been amazed at how many people have been queuing up at the back door with donations and also at the front door to come in to buy the full range of items from large pieces of furniture to decorative pieces that we have here in Caldicot.”

If you have items that you’d like to donate please call  01633 867138., take them to the St David’s Hospice depot in Ty Coch, Cwmbran or take them to you local hospice shop. In some cases arrangements can be made for large items to be collected from your home or office.

St David’s Hospice Care offers palliative and end of life care to patients and their families facing the most difficult time of their lives.

The hospice needs £8.5m a year to run its range of services including its inpatient hospice and day hospices. The hospice, which has to fund 70% of its clinical services through its events and its shops.

www.stdavidshospicecare.org

PROPERTY experts are helping investors with their enquiries over the sale at auction of a former police station in Newport.

The substantial property in the Pill area of the city which has been converted to 10 luxury flats is being sold by Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions.

Sean Roper, of Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “There is plenty of evidence to suggest that this would be an ideal investment property as a number of the apartments have well-established tenants.

“The former police station building has had an excellent upgrade and is well maintained and managed. It is situated to the southern end of Alexandra Road and close to the A48 Southern Distributor road offering easy access to the M4 east and west.

“It’s quite an arresting opportunity for someone looking to purchase an established modern apartment block with evidence of an interesting history, in the heart of the city of Newport.”

The property, which is being listed with a guide price of £340,000-plus, has four, one bedroom apartments, one two bedroom apartment and five studio units. There is car parking and a communal yard.

Fully let the Paul Fosh Auctions says the property could return monthly income of £4,895 equating to £58,740 a year.

The next Paul Fosh Auctions online sale, at which this property along with some 90-plus others, will be offered for sale, starts at 12 noon on Tuesday, June 8 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, June 10.

www.paulfoshauctions.com

RAFTS and their crews are getting set to launch later this year at the annual Monmouth Raft Race.

And you will have to act quickly is you want to benefit from a £25 reduction in the entry fee which ends on June 1.

The eagerly anticipated river race, organised by Rotary Monmouth, is a major fund raiser for Newport-based St David’s Hospice Care. The event had to be cancelled last year due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

The 2021 event, which sees a flotilla of home-made rafts launched on to the River Wye in Monmouth and manoeuvre 6.5 miles to berth and be hauled ashore by tractor at Tump Farm, Whitebrook, will be staged on Sunday, September 5.

The popular event sees themed crafts and crews  converge on Monmouth from all corners of the UK. The event generates 1000’s of pounds for the Newport-based hospice and a raft of other local causes.

The River Wye event, sponsored by Monmouth-based Mandarin Stone, will be held for the  55th time this year.

St David’s Hospice Care Chief Executive, Emma Saysell, said: “It’s fabulous news that the Monmouth Raft Race will be on once more this year. It’s such a brilliant, fun event which is enjoyed enormously by the crews of the rafts and also families and supporters who line the route and celebrate at the end of race gathering in Whitebrook.

“The Monmouth Raft Race, staged by the Rotary Monmouth, is such a huge social occasion for everyone involved not the least the raft makers, their teams and supporters. I’d urge anyone thinking of coming on board this year to take the plunge and sign up-you won’t be disappointed and will be helping to support the hospice which cares, free of charge, to users throughout our community.”

“Monmouth Raft Race is a very well-loved and critical event in the St David’s Hospice Care fundraising event calendar, helping to fund the continued work of our nurses and the running of hospice services provided free to all patients and families.

“The entry fees and any donations made provide vital palliative care to people facing life limiting illnesses as well as providing support to their families at a very difficult time.

“We are working as closely as ever with Rotary Monmouth to ensure the  2021 Monmouth Raft Race is the biggest and best yet, with fun on the river, fabulous food, drinks and uplifting live music at the raft race finish festival in Whitebrook.”

Norman Williams, on behalf of Rotary Monmouth, said: “We are thrilled to be able to stage the Monmouth Raft Race in 2021 and to be able to give the event the green light now so rafters have plenty of time to get their rafts and crews together for the big day.

“The event, which  is a fixed date in so very many people’s diaries, attracts several thousand people each year who are as enthusiastic at the start in Monmouth as at the end at Whitebrook where a huge celebration is staged. Now we’re up and running we have every intention of making the 55th staging of the much-loved Monmouth Raft Race the very best that it can be.

“I’d encourage those thinking of entering to get their details in as soon to benefit from early registration discount. I’d like to personally thank this year’s lead sponsor Mandarin Stone for their continued support. Also Monmouth-based Siltbuster who are again sponsoring the Best All male crew award, and Ross on Wye based Harrison Clark Rickerby’s Solicitors, who are again sponsoring the Best All Female crew award.”

St David’s Hospice Care offers palliative and end of life care to patients and their families facing the most difficult time of their lives.

The hospice needs £8.5m a year to run its range of services including its inpatient hospice and day hospices. The hospice, which has to fund 70% of its clinical services through its events and its shops.

If you would like to support the charity at this time please visit  https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/stdavidscovid19

If you haven’t already entered, then you only have a few days to take advantage of the Earlybird discounted entry fee of £50 per raft. After 1st June the fee increases to £75. Details www.monmouthraftrace.com

SOUTH Wales property auctioneer and extreme athlete Paul Fosh is ready to compete in what is widely regarded as one of the world’s toughest and most brutal endurance races – the Montane Spine.

Covering a unforgiving 265-mile route up the spine of the United Kingdom the event sees competitors race non-stop from Edale, in England’s Peak District to Kirk Yelthorn, in the Scottish borders, along the Pennine Way.

The Montane Spine race was devised by Arctic expedition guides Scott Gilmour and Phil Hayday-Brown. The inaugural race took place in 2012 when there were just three finishers from a field of eleven competitors

Paul, the 53-year-old MD of Newport based Paul Fosh Auctions, who lives near Monmouth, is no stranger to the extreme demands of ultra events. The super fit athlete regularly competes in a range of ultra marathons.

Paul competed in 2015 in the Likeys Ultra in Canada when he was one of just eight to finish, coming fourth out of the 24 that entered.  He also completed the 300-mile Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra in 2016.

Paul, who is in daily training for the Montane Spine event, says he has unfinished business as he was forced to pull out of the 430-mile Montane Yukon Ultra in 2019 due to injury.

Paul said: “I’ve entered the summer Montane Spine event. It’s 268 miles over about six-and-a-half days with lots of altitude. I’m very, very nervous and also very, very excited. It doesn’t compare to anything I’ve done before. I’ve got a good idea of what’s in store and that’s what’s making me nervous, which is a good thing.

“It’s full on. Running over all sorts of terrain, stopping when and where you can for rest, perhaps some sleep and then carrying on. My biggest concern, perhaps strangely, is if I will be able to get enough water. In the Yukon, that’s not a problem, you just melt some snow or ice. I’ve got a device to filter water, so I’ll just have to drink from streams. Of course, there will be some scattered shops.”

Paul, who is raising funds for the Wales homelessness young people and women charity, Llamau has been in training over back to back days but he says nothing can replicate the epic nature of the  268 mile route other than actually running the course.

“Because of the pandemic and the remaining restrictions, the race has a staggered start.  I’m setting off at 4pm on the Saturday evening. There are about 90 entrants from across the world taking part. It’ll really be a tough personal test and one, although I am nervous, I relish.”

Paul will lead a team from Paul Fosh Auctions in the Three Peaks of Wales Challenge in July, again in aid of Llamau before getting back in training for the ‘unfinished business’ of the  300-mile Montane Lapland Arctic Ultra in March next year.

Spine participants wear or carry mandatory clothing and equipment over the full course and have access to an additional drop bag which is transported along the route for them and made available at checkpoints. Individual support crews for the runners were allowed in the past but from 2018 were no longer permitted.

The 2019 race received considerable media attention when the overall win was taken by British women’s fell running champion Jasmin Paris.

The Montane Spine starts on Saturday, June 19 and ends on the following Saturday.

The next Paul Fosh Auctions online sale starts at 12 noon on Tuesday, June 8 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, June 10.

www.paulfoshauctions.com

THE Acorn Dalmatian Bike Ride is in gear and ready to roll for its tenth year after being confined to kennels in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Organiser Dave Rees says cyclists are straining at the leash ready to saddle up for the iconic event in aid of Newport-based St David’s Hospice Care

Keen cyclist Dave, who started the event in 2012 with a group of friends and which has raised more than £250,000 in that time, says he’s hoping to attract new riders this time.

This year’s event is on Saturday, June 26.

Dave said: “As the country opens up again after the pandemic we will try to make this year even better than usual but of course following all the government guidelines for Covid safety.

“As always we will have the rides in the morning returning to the garden of the fabulous Priory Hotel in Caerleon where there will be a 5 star BBQ presented by the staff at the hotel. There is no charge for admission to the BBQ for either the riders or their families that come to support this great fundraiser for St David’s Hospice Care.

“We will spend the afternoon in the gardens at the Priory with music, great food fun and laughter. We have live Dalmatian dogs to welcome the riders home and pose for pictures with the riders and children subject to distancing rules at the time and of course the wicked Cruella de Ville will be in attendance.

“This year there will not be a canal route, as we don’t want to put 100 people in coaches to get to Brecon, so we are keeping with the 20, 40 and 58 mile routes. We have also introduced a very flat 10 mile route so that all the people in the city that have taken to cycling since the first lockdown can have a chance to take part in their first arranged cycle event.

“The 10-mile route starts in Caerleon taking the cycle path to Sainsbury’s along the river front to cross over the SDR bridge and then back up the riverfront and on to Caerleon. It really is a very easy flat route and ideal for first timers

“Come and sign up early for this amazing event. It’s not about hardened cyclists, this is a fun family event that you can take part in as a family or with a group of friends. You will get an event cycle top that you can wear all year round and it’s a chance for you to get sponsored by the mile to raise much needed funds for St David’s Hospice Care.

“After a very tough year for everybody St David’s Hospice really needs the support of the  City and indeed the people in the County of Gwent. Hospice care is free but very costly so please dig deep and make a donation. If you can’t cycle we need volunteers on the day as marshals so please contact St David’s Hospice Care on 01633 851051 if you can spare a few hours on Saturday 26^th June.

The Acorn Dalmatian Bike Ride is sponsored by Acorn. Acorn’s Group Operations Director, Andrew Tugwell, said: “Many of my friends and colleagues have had personal experience of St David’s Hospice Care and the wonderful work they do for our local community.

“The past year has obviously been difficult for many businesses, but charities in particular have been hit very hard by the pandemic due to not being able to carry out fundraising events as they usually do. So we are delighted to be in a position to support the Dalmatian Bike Ride once again this year in aid of a truly worthy cause.”

Event organiser Beth Harrington, of St David’s Hospice Care, said: “We’re all working together to ensure the Acorn Dalmatian Bike Ride is a brilliant success again this year.

“The Dally, as it’s come to be known, is a truly wonderful, fun event which appeals to all levels of cyclists. The new 10-mile route is sure to appear to rookie’s and perhaps also those feeling a bit physically challenged after months out of the saddle during lockdown.”

“The Acorn Dalmatian Bike Ride is a well-loved and critical event in the St David’s Hospice Care fundraising event calendar, helping to fund the continued work of our nurses and the running of hospice services provided free to all patients and families. The entry fee together with any sponsorship raised provides vital palliative care to people facing life limiting illnesses as well as providing support to their families at a very difficult time. We are not only looking for riders but volunteers also to help with a variety of roles, please contact us to find out more.”

 

• Register your entry online at www.dalmatianbikeride.com
• Volunteer: http://www.dalmatianbikeride.com/contact-us/
• Contact: dalmatian@stdavidshospicecare.org  / 01633 851051
• Set-up a Just Giving page or make a donation towards the work of St David’s Hospice Care at:  www.justgiving.com/campaign/dalmatianbike
• Text to donate code:

Text to donate

• Text CWTCH 3 Dalmatian to give £3
• Text CWTCH 5 Dalmatian to give £5
• Text CWTCH 10 Dalmatian to give £10
• Text CWTCH 15 Dalmatian to give £15
• Text CWTCH 20 Dalmatian to give £20

Send your text to 70300

100% of your donation goes to St David’s Hospice Care

Texts costs your donation plus 1 message at your standard network rate.

Always ask the bill payers permission. Registered Charity number: 1010576

• Entry fees:

Please enter soon to ensure you will have a cycling jersey or technical t-shirt for the event day.

• Adult Entry £25 (to include a technical t-shirt) Adult entry £35 (to include a cycling jersey)
• Family entry £30 (for 1 adult & 1 child – to include an adult technical t-shirt & child t-shirt)
• Child Entry £10 (to include a t-shirt)*Children must be accompanied by an adult

A dilapidated house in one of the most desirable locations in Newport has come on the market but you’ll need to roll up your sleeves before you move in.

The semi detached property, at 211 Christchurch Road,  in the  Beechwood area of Newport, right opposite the city’s Beechwood Park, has been empty for years.

The house, which is being sold by Paul Fosh Auctions, now needs complete renovation but offers huge potential.

Gemma Vaughan, of Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “This type of original unimproved home seldom comes on the market. It’s a true gem. We’re expecting keen interest in the property due to its size, condition, potential and brilliant location, opposite the park.

“This substantial freehold property offers a truly fantastic opportunity for someone to acquire a home in a marvellous location in Newport on Christchurch Road right opposite Beechwood Park gates.

” The four to five bedroom property requires complete renovation throughout but does offer huge potential. It would make an ideal family home as it is very spacious  has off road parking with garage and a lovely, large rear garden.”

The property is listed with a guide price of £229,000-plus.

The next Paul Fosh Auctions online sale, when this property among some eighty others will be offered for sale,  starts at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 27 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, April 29.

www.paulfoshauctions.com

PAUL Fosh Auctions has retained its position as the top selling property auction house in Wales for the 13th year in succession.

Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, which conducted its sales totally online in 2020 after going into lockdown in March last year, has emerged as number one in the national league.

Paul Fosh Auctions sold 371 properties at a total value of £33, 315, 351 at its Wales auctions in 2020 with an average lot value of £89,799. The number of properties sold by the Gwent auction house was more than three times that of its nearest challenger in the chart, which sold 95 lots over the same period.

The total value of Paul Fosh Auctions sales for 2020 shows an increase of almost £5m on those achieved under ‘normal’ circumstances in 2019.

The annual auction sales chart, a highly regarded guide within the industry, is compiled by UK industry experts Essential Information Group (EIG) and published in association with industry ‘Bible’, Estates Gazette.

Paul Fosh Auctions Managing Director, Paul Fosh, said: “The past 12 months has been as challenging as any I have known in the twenty years since Paul Fosh Auctions was established.

“Online auctions have proved to be a phenomenal success for us but it was a real baptism of fire at the start when we had just a matter of a couple of days to shift what would have been a normal terrestrial ball room sale online when the country was plunged into lockdown in March last year.

“Online is most definitely the future for us, you only have to look at these figures to realise that this is the future. We were prepared for online sales as we had done the groundwork putting systems and procedures in place on a trial basis as, as a business, we’re always looking to innovate and improve. This, as these results clearly show, has paid dividends.”

Mr Fosh said customers, property sellers and buyers, had embraced the changes and the auction business was now welcoming bidders from across the globe to its online auctions.

The property expert, who lives near Monmouth, in Monmouthshire, opened his first office in Gold Tops, Newport, on February 1, 2001 before moving to Church Road and now has headquarters in Lower Dock Street.

He said, going online after standing in front of a packed hall, gavel in hand for almost twenty years, had been a revelation.

“Although I enjoy standing on a rostrum, in front of a room full of people the stats prove why we should never go back to a room sale. Online we have thousands of people registered to bid. With the best will in the world, in a room sale we have between 250 and 300 people in an auction room with probably only half of those registered to bid.

“The online sales attract bids from people across some sixty countries and record more than 100,000 hits on the website during a typical online sale. People bid from wherever they may be, on their smart phones and mobile devices, sitting at home, in the park or by the pool and across all time zones.”

Paul Fosh Auctions now hosts virtual tours of properties for sale allowing potential buyers, wherever they are in the world, to a detailed and intimate view of what they want to buy.

“Going online has opened up the auctions to more and more people around the world. Online auctions are here to stay, and I don’t ever see us going back to auction room sales.”

Paul Fosh Auctions, which launched a lettings business three years ago, now offers a complete package from buying to renovation and renting to sales.

The next Paul Fosh Auctions online sale, when some ninety lots will be offered for sale, starts at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 27 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, April 29.

www.paulfoshauctions.com

http://https://youtu.be/b3nolK1CNAQ

A newly opened home and furniture emporium stacked with modern and vintage items allows people to browse to their heart’s content.

The St David’s Hospice Care warehouse in Cwmbran  is jam-packed with all manner of good quality furniture, china, sofas and an eclectic array of the more unusual of items.

Emma Saysell, Chief Executive of St David’s Hospice Care, said: “The warehouse is where we are storing our excess stock. It offers bargain hunters the chance to take their time and have an unhurried browse around to see the kind of merchandise we have.

“The Covid pandemic and the lock down hit us really hard and with our high street shops only just now re opening, and we are looking forward to people supporting us over the coming weeks and months”.

“The new warehouse is an Aladdin’s Cave of all sorts of items. People can take their time and have a good nosey and browse.  We’ve only been open a few days but we have had interest in our warehouse”

Home and Furniture Warehouse Manager John Wheat has been busy setting up the warehouse at Ty Coch Way, Cwmbran.

John, popping a record on a vintage wind-up record player, said: “The range and sheer variety of the items that we have in the warehouse is simply mind boggling.

“We have a wide-range of items in the warehouse, included some vintage and well-loved items. We are also using the warehouse to supply our shops. There is plenty to see, pop in if you are in the area, we would love to see you ”

The Home and Furniture Warehouse, which is open from 9.30 to 4.30 Tuesday to Saturday,  is on the  Withy Court Industrial Estate, Ty Coch Way, Cwmbran, NP44 7EZ opposite Festive Productions.

YOU may have to be braver than usual when you take on a Gwent property  project which is being sold at auction later this month.

Some renovation and  a bit of building work may be required and then there are the ghosts and the coffins in the cellar….

A property project would normally require calling in various experts for advice. In this case one of your first calls could well be to the Ghost Busters.

Surveyor Debra Bisley, who is handling the sale for Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “Taking on a property may require an investor to be brave and confident but if you buy the Pontypool’s Hanbury Arms you may need that extra bit of bravery to complete the work.

“The refurbished pub, on Clarence Street, Pontypool, on the main road into the town, has a well-documented history of paranormal goings on over the years with one particular legend concerning nineteenth century hangings in the building and the appearance of a former executioner.”

A man, believed to be a former executioner at the 1830’s building where it’s said criminals were once hanged, is reported to be an occasional eerie visitor.

Staff at the recently-closed pub are said to have previously captured evidence of the paranormal goings on videos, which appear to show weird “orbs” of light darting about the bar.

It’s also been said that beer glasses have spontaneously smashed, lights have switched on and off with no one in the room and barrels of cider have burst open in the pub’s subterranean cellar.

Workmen refurbishing the building upstairs downed tools, claiming they felt a bitterly cold presence, accompanied by an oppressive feeling of dread.

A previous owner of the pub invited paranormal experts to case the joint who were reported to have said they were convinced of the spirits’ presence.

A former manager claims to have heard whispers coming from the empty cellar and refused to enter certain parts of the pub alone. Other staff reported a strong smell of garlic in certain places.

And perhaps most scarily of all, the souls of a little girl named Emily and a small boy in Victorian dress, are said to be regulars.

The Hanbury Arms, with cellar, ground floor bar area and first floor apartment and four additional bedroom, along with a range of ghosts and a selection of coffins in various sizes in the cellar, is listed with a guide price of £140,000-plus. The property, which dates from 1830’s, traded as a public house until last year.

The next Paul Fosh Auctions online sale, when this property among some eighty others will be offered for sale,  starts at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 27 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, April 29.

www.paulfoshauctions.com

NOW lockdown restrictions are being eased it could be the perfect opportunity to look at revisiting the local social club or even going the whole hog and acquiring one of your very own.

The Greenway Social Club, on Greenway Drive, Grifithstown, near Pontypool, has come on the market and could well fit the bill.

Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions is selling the social club, which only closed its doors to customers last year, with a guide price of £350,000 plus.

Sean Roper, who is handling the sale of the property for Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “The Greenway Social Club is a substantial building with land and a car park. The club traded until early 2020.

“The property requires significant improvement and modernisation should it be utilised in the future as a social club however, it is envisaged that it would be better cleared for redevelopment of the whole site, subject to the necessary planning approval. The surrounding estate has a mix of larger executive detached residences and semi-detached properties.

“The site measures approx. 0.86 acres/3,470 sq m and would be ideal for residential development or other commercial uses such as care home, subject to necessary planning consents.”

The town of Griffithstown is a highly sought-after location with an excellent range of local amenities and shopping facilities and schools at both primary and senior level. There are superb road links to Cwmbran, Newport and the M4 motorway.

The property currently offers a concert room/bar, lounge, another bar, three storerooms, spacious function room, wcs and cellar room. There is a games room, former office and store, kitchenette and living rooms on the first floor. Outside there is a drive leading to parking area, gardens and land to front side and rear.

The next Paul Fosh Auctions online sale, when this property among some ninety others will be offered for sale, starts at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 27 and ends from 5pm on Thursday, April 29.

www.paulfoshauctions.com