11
May
Harrogate pensioner appeals for help to sell donated stamps for cancer charity
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A Harrogate pensioner who has collected more than half a million stamps to raise money for charity is appealing for expert help to sell some of the rarer specimens he’s been given.
As the Stray Ferret reported last year, Alan Barker set out to collect 94,000 used postage stamps to charity by his 94th birthday in July, to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of his wife and son-in-law, who both died of cancer.
Followed news coverage on BBC Look North and BBC Radio York, he smashed that target and now has more than 350,000 used stamps waiting to be sent off. Used stamps can be sold by weight and a charity can receive approximately £20 for a kilogram of stamps.
But he has also been given more than 150,000 collectible stamps in albums, and needs a specialist’s help to find buyers for them.
He told the Stray Ferret:
I’m hoping that there’ll be an expert philatelist out there who’s willing to come and take look, and let me know what I’ve got and how much it’s all worth.
I’ve got hundreds of first-day covers here, and I’m sure there are plenty of stamp collectors who would love some of them. There will be some rare ones. You can’t have half a million stamps without having a few valuable ones.
I should get about £20,000 for the loose stamps, but how much I get for all the stamps as a whole will depend entirely on what people are willing to pay for the albums. There are 76 first-day covers in just one of them. I just need someone to make a fair offer.
Mr Barker need help assessing the value of the albums he has been given.
Mr Barker, who is originally from Darlington but has lived in the same house on Harlow Hill since 1958, neatly trims every loose stamp he receives and keeps them in large sacks in his hallway, ready for collection by Macmillan.
He was inspired to raise money this way after losing his wife of 62 years, Eileen, and his son-in-law to cancer.
He said:
During the war, I used to save stamps and would go to Darlington library to check on their value, so I’ve long had an interest in them.
I thought this would be a good way to help the Macmillan nurses – they were wonderful when my son-in-law took ill. However much money I manage to raise, every penny will go to them.
Some of the stamps are still waiting to be trimmed.
But collecting used stamps is not the only way Mr Barker is raising funds. He has written an autobiography and a collection of poems which are available to buy, and has also collected more than 150 jigsaw puzzles, which he aims to sell.
He said:
My wife used to love doing jigsaws, and we ended up with quite a lot of them. Some of them haven’t even been opened, so they’re in perfect condition.
Mr Barker hopes that his fundraising efforts will result in thousands more pounds for a charity that is very close to his heart, but he added:
My biggest hope is to have my stairway clear! All the jigsaws sold, all the stamps collected, and all the money handed over to Harrogate Macmillan nurses, with grateful thanks.
Macmillan supports people living with cancer. In the UK, 40 people are diagnosed with cancer every hour, and 19 people die of it.
To donate to Mr Barker's fundraising drive, stamps can to be sent by post to 37 West Lea Avenue, Harrogate HG2 0AT, or dropped off through the letterbox.
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