The creator of a Welsh luxury brand is raffling a £2,000 one-of-a-kind chair to support a charity whose fundraising has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hayley Hanson, the brains behind the eponymous luxury leather brand Hayley Hanson, has set her sights on raising £5,000 for The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) by raffling off a hide chair worth £2,000.
Hayley is a fifth-generation cattle farmer born and bred in mid-Wales. She diversified into tanning hides and crafting her own luxury leather fashion and homewares accessories alongside raising her British Blue and Aberdeen Angus cattle. Hayley Hanson was launched in 2011 and is now the only leather brand in the world using hides raised in Wales.
RABI, which is farming’s oldest and largest charity, offers financial support, practical care and guidance to farming people of all ages, including farmers, farmworkers and dependents. Hayley has supported RABI for many years as her brand’s charity and has their green collection jar proudly displayed on her countertop. This year she was asked to give a talk at their fashion show, but this was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Hayley became deeply concerned for the charity after virtually all of its usual fundraising events were cancelled or postponed.
Hayley said:
“Farming truly runs in my blood so I’m well aware of the amazing work carried out by RABI all over Wales and England. When my local branch had to cancel their fundraising fashion show I thought about how much they would miss the money which would have been raised and knew I had to help. This chair has been admired by friends, family and customers alike whilst on display at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair or in our showroom, so it’s definitely hot property. I hope that by offering it as the prize, I will compel people to snap up a ticket – or ten – and raise lots of money for RABI.
“It’s truly a unique piece, made from a beautiful, huge Welsh bred Simmental hide, and with tickets priced at just £5 we hope to make it a viable option for everyone to support this amazing cause and have a chance of winning this beautiful prize.”
Tickets for the raffle are available from the Hayley Hanson website (www.hayleyhanson.co.uk) until midnight on August 31. All profits will go to RABI and the winner will be drawn at random by hill farmer and TV personality Gareth Wyn Jones later that week. The winner will be notified before the result is announced on the Hayley Hanson website and social media. The winner will be required to collect the chair from the farm and adhere to current social distancing rules.
