Inverness artist raises money for MS with charity auction
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An Inverness artist and avid football fan has raised £400 for charity through the sale of an original painting.
Sophie Robb (28), opted to auction one of her sporty paintings to support a close friend who lives with multiple sclerosis (MS) and was fundraising for MS Society Scotland.
Sophie has been painting as a hobby for years but first put brush to canvas for a football composition to celebrate her team, Inverness Caley Thistle, winning the Scottish Cup in 2015.
The auctioned picture shows Dundee United legend Ralph Milne celebrating scoring the opening goal away to derby rivals Dundee on the day United won the league in 1983.
Sophie said: “I’ve always enjoyed painting and after doing my first Caley Thistle one interest just seemed to take off.
“I think people like having those happy memories – it’s led to lots of people getting in touch asking for originals.
“Painting has always been a hobby of mine and when I started to sell my work I thought it would be a good opportunity to raise money for a good cause."
Sophie has set a target of including every major club in Scotland in her work and hopes, due to the success of this fundraising, to repeat the charity sale in the near future.
She added: “I’m just glad to be doing what I can to support fundraising and I’m delighted to have raised such a fantastic sum.”
Sophie’s friend Stuart Rose is a prolific fundraiser for MS Society Scotland and was diagnosed with MS when he was 15. Sophie added the £400 to his most recent efforts earlier this year.
Stuart said: “I have been raising money to support the fight to stop MS in its tracks for a number of years and was delighted when Sophie offered to make a donation through her art.
“To receive support from close friends means a lot so I’d like to say thanks to her for getting involved.
“She’s a very talented artist and I think it’s important to highlight that there’s no one good way to raise money for a good cause – you can take on any kind of challenge or work at the things that you enjoy.”
MS is often painful and exhausting and cause problems with how we walk, talk, see, think and feel.
Morna Simpkins, director of MS Society Scotland, said: “We want to say a huge thank you to Sophie for raising funds for us in such an interesting and creative way.
“More than 11,000 of us in Scotland have MS and fundraisers like Sophie play a crucial part in stopping the condition in its tracks.
“With the support of our fundraisers we’re driving research into more – and better – treatments for everyone.”
Click here to find out more about MS Society Scotland’s work and how you can get involved.
