The Bermuda National Trust will hold a virtual auction fundraiser this month instead of its annual in-person event because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Furniture and artwork will come under the hammer at the Trust Treasures auction and bidders will be able to compete for ownership on the Handbid app until November 24.

Dorte Horsfield, the head of development and engagement at the BNT, said that the auction was a replacement for the usual Auction & Jumble Sale, which sells off donated items to raise money for the trust.

She added: “We were very disappointed this year’s Auction & Jumble event was first postponed from February to September and was then cancelled due to Covid.

“This massive recycling event is highly anticipated and we received many donated items.

“We have been running a pop-up shop at the National Trust headquarters at Waterville on Pomander Road, where we have sold a great many of these items, but we saved some of the higher value pieces for the online auction.”

Ms Horsfield said that the auction period was an ideal opportunity to find an “unusual Christmas present for someone special”.

Sale items include oil paintings by Sebastian Kiarie, a Kenyan artist, as well as figurines from the Llardo Black legacy collection and Bing & Grondahl collection, carvings and sets of fine china.

Bermudian items, such as a cedar rocking chair and a jewellery box carved by a Boer War prisoner on the island more than a century ago, are also up for grabs.

The Trust Treasures Auction can be accessed through the Bermuda National Trust website or the Handbid website.

Items can be viewed online or in person at Waterville on Pomander Road, Paget.

The auction will run until November 24 and the Trust Treasures pop-up shop, also at Waterville, will be open until just before Christmas.

For more information, contact Ms Horsfield at 236-6483 or e-mail her at dhorsfield@bnt.bm