8 ■ COMMUNITY NEWS
Gallery owner’s paintings help make Rwandan school dream come true… By Andrew Tong newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk
THE owner of an art gallery in Tunbridge Wells is donating 140 paintings to an auction in order to raise money for an African school. Nick Hills, who has run the Redleaf Gallery in Castle Street for almost 20 years, was inspired to raise funds for the project after he visited Rwanda last year. He and his wife Machteld and two sons, Frank and Charlie, went out to see the mountain gorillas at Kinigi. They decided to take some clothes for the descendants of those who were killed during the genocide in 1994. “There are a lot of orphans out there, and a real problem with displaced people,” says Mr Hills. “We weren’t sure what the best place would be to take the clothes, but our driver said he knew just the thing. “We were eating dinner that night when out of the darkness emerged a lady who said, ‘Hello, I’m Faith’.
‘You can buy a painting as a lasting reminder of this heartwarming tale’ “She told us that there were a fantastic number of simply hopeless, unschooled children with no prospects. “And we had seen them wandering along the side of the road. She said, ‘These are the people I have taken as my calling’.” Faith Uwantege had started a school, which was based in a private house, and had used up all her own savings for the project. “She told us was looking for a
ART AND SOUL Andrew Vicari’s Patha Patha
plot of land, and I told her I would help with that,” says Mr Hills. “I’ve been there three times now, and I will keep going back.” The school is due to open in January, but the funds are required to complete the construction and help to recruit teachers. “We are hoping to raise at least £10,000,” added Mr Hills, who lives in both Holland and Tunbridge Wells. “As well as the auction, there will be a talk in Amsterdam. In addition, Karel Bracas, who is known as the Storyteller of Amsterdam, will tell his tale about the children under threat in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation in 1943, and how they were rescued by fantastically brave people. He will link it in with Faith and the rescue operation during the genocide in Rwanda.”
SELF SACRIFICE Faith Uwantege put all her savings into the school Mr Hills believes the pick of the paintings is Andrew Vicari’s Patha Patha, a colourful street scene. “It has a tremendous vitality and energy, and it’s not unreasonable that it was previously valued at around £20,000 to £25,000.” Vicari is known as ‘the king of painters and painter of kings’ for his lucrative commissions to capture heads of state and royalty on canvas. His subjects have included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sophia Loren, Mao Tse-tung and François Mitterrand. The sale will be handled by Grand Auctions, and their 20th-century paintings expert Jonathan Riley said: “We immediately and enthusiastically agreed to be involved when we heard of Nick’s dedication to helping Faith to turn the dream of building a school into
a reality. “We are determined to do everything we can to make the sale a success and have waived our usual seller’s charges. Rather than just give a donation, you can buy a painting as a lasting reminder of this heartwarming tale. He added: “There’s something here to suit most tastes, from works by 17th-century artists to the present day. And you can buy a painting safe in the knowledge that money raised goes straight to Faith’s school without any intermediaries taking a cut, a rarity indeed in Africa.” The sale will be held at Grand Auctions in Folkestone on September 19. For more information, visit www.grandauctions.co.uk and www.faithfoundation.rw
Malachi takes Archbishop on grand tour of Demelza
CONFIDENT Malachi Tyler and the Archbishop
Wednesday 14th September 2016
BRAVE eight-year-old Malachi Tyler from Tunbridge Wells made a deep impression on the Archbishop of Canterbury when he showed him round Demelza Hospice Care for Children at Bobbing in Kent. The Most Rev Justin Welby, a patron of the charity, and his wife admired the ease and confidence shown by Malachi, who is blind and suffers from hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid on the brain. The Archbishop, who took part in music therapy with some of the children and tried out the soft play area, computer and sensory rooms, said he had been ‘blown away’ by the experience. For more information visit www.demelza.org.uk
TOP TEAM Tunbridge Wells T20 XI team
Tunbridge Wells prove a big hit TUNBRIDGE WELLS were thwarted in their bid to achieve national glory in this season’s NatWest Club T20 competition. They reached the last four of the nationwide competition and attended finals day at Derbyshire County Cricket Club’s 3aaa ground in Derby last week. It’s the first time that a side from Kent has even reached the regional heats, let alone
gone all the way to finals day. But they lost their semi-final against Swardestone from East Anglia, who went on to win the competition later the same day. Tunbridge Wells did well to restrict them to 167 for 9 off their 20 overs, with left-arm spinner Fred Florry taking 4 for 26. But they were bowled out for 144 in reply, falling 23 runs short.