Miranda Pennington, who works as an art teacher at St Richard’s Catholic College in Bexhill, is coordinating #sophiespostcard2020, which is an eBay auction starting on June 17 and ending on June 27. The aim of the auction is for people to send in their artwork on a postcard-sized piece of paper and a signature on the back, which will then be sold off to the highest bidder, with the proceeds going to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The charity has been picked after former St Richard’s Catholic College pupil Sophie Maria Taylor, and her family, received care and support at The Royal Marsden Hospital. Sophie sadly died on April 5, 2017. Miranda said, “Sophie was really well-loved by everybody. She really liked art and when I was asked to organise the auction it felt like a good thing to do for her. “Two years ago we did an auction and her parents were overwhelmed. It would have been her last year at St Richard’s this year and we are commemorating that with art.” Miranda said her postbox is ‘full’ with people’s artwork and believes lockdown has encouraged the public to get creative in their spare time. So far, as of Thursday May 28, Miranda said more than 800 postcards have already been sent in by artists from Eastbourne and Sussex and also some famous artists including Sir Quentin Blake and Jacqueline Wilson. Miranda said, “Thank you to all the artists. It’s a community effort. It has been amazing. We’re looking forward to the auction and to remember Sophie.” The last time the event was held was in 2018, where £15,000 was raised. To take part artists have until June 1 to send in their work addressed to #sophiespostcard2020, St Richard’s Catholic College, Ashford Road, Bexhill-on-Sea TN40 1SE. Artwork should be on a postcard-sized piece of paper with the artist’s name on the back. For more information, visit www.sophiespostcard.com/ A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton: In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. Stay safe, and best wishes.