COMMENT: Hunt for old silver and you can help the hospice

As media partners, we’ re delighted to launch the initiative today and urge all our readers to have a good old hunt in the loft, in cupboards and kitchen drawers to unearth old silver items that could be turned into cash to help the hospice.

It could be jewellery, cutlery, a teapot, candlesticks –  anything as long as it’ s got a hallmark or is silver plate. Something hidden away and forgotten about for years could raise valuable funds towards the £7.5m the hospice needs to pay for a three-year transformation of the building and the care it provides for people across the Portsmouth area.  

All you have to do is take it to either the hospice at Waterlooville or to Nesbits auctioneers in Southsea and they’ll do the rest. If you choose the latter, you’ ll get the added bonus of meeting TV presenter and antiques expert John Cameron.

He’ ll be on hand at a series of Nesbits valuation days to have a look at your donated silver, tell you about it and suggest what it might make if sold for the hospice. John’ s opinion will determine whether your item will be sold in an auction, passed on to the Rowans charity shops to be sold there or sold on to a specialist silver collector, who will purchase it based on weight.

Wherever it ends up, the important thing is that your silver could contribute towards that big £7.5m total and enable chief executive Ruth White and her team to realise their dream of delivering outstanding hospice care for the next 25 years.  

So when you’ve got five minutes, we urge you to go for a rummage and see what you can find. Every item donated will make a difference.

 Happy hunting!