Auctioned guitar saves animal park from closing

The late Jeff Beck's guitar raised millions of pounds to make sure Folly Wildlife Centre keeps it's doors open.  Bartholomew Hall reports.

Transcript

00:00Sold £75,000, battle 3023.

00:03This is the moment a guitar was sold in auction, saving a Kent animal rescue centre.

00:09Four months ago Folly Wildlife Rescue in Tunbridge Wells was considering closing its doors, leaving

00:14the hundreds of animals in its care with nowhere to go, all due to a lack of funding.

00:19There's nowhere else local to take this wildlife, the birds, the hedgehogs, we have deer in

00:25here, swans, you name it, it comes through the doors and if there's nowhere else local

00:30to bring these animals, you know, they're not going to be saved.

00:40Before his death in 2023, former Yardbirds guitarist Geoff Beck had been patron of Folly

00:46Wildlife since 2005. This week more than 120 guitars, amps and pedals from his collection

00:52were put up for sale, making £8.7 million, more than eight times the pre-sale estimate.

01:00As a way to continue supporting the charity, Geoff's wife and their close friend Johnny

01:04Depp, who is also a patron to the centre, dedicated the total sale of the final four

01:09lots to Folly Rescue. It included a guitar, signed by performers at a Geoff Beck tribute

01:14concert such as Rod Stewart, and three canvas paintings signed by both Depp and Beck.

01:20That means, thanks to the £100,000 raised, Folly can stay open and continue preparing

01:26for the summer months, when they expect more birds and other animals to come into their

01:29care.

01:31It was quite a shock. I know there were some quite key parts weren't it, that fetched huge

01:34amounts of money, but even the lot that was funded for us went for £75,000 and we didn't

01:39expect that at all, so it was wonderful. We're not eligible for government or lottery funding.

01:44It's quite easy to get grants for equipment and projects, but sometimes that day-to-day

01:49cost just to support your work and keep us open, there isn't enough.

01:52The end of last year was real financial difficulty for us and we were facing closure. We launched

01:57an appeal and it brought in about £350,000, which was huge, so this will be added into

02:04that pot. Sandra Beck has been incredibly supportive and Johnny Depp as well, just in

02:09sharing our work and promoting the auction, and supporters and volunteers, it's been amazing,

02:13so thank you very much.

02:15So even if these birds aren't quite singing to the tune of Jeff Beck, the legacy of his

02:19music will help them to continue chirping in the care of folly wildlife.

02:24Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.