Dedicated supporters of farming charity RABI helped raise more than £3,000 in Monmouthshire over a single August single weekend when volunteers served bacon baps and cakes to hungry bargain hunters at Pontrilas Auction Rooms and the following day organised an afternoon tea and fashion show at Brythe Farm in Raglan.

The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) is farming’s oldest and largest welfare charity, giving out grants of around £2 million each year to farming people in hardship in Wales and England.

To fund its work RABI relies heavily on its volunteers, many of whom come from farming backgrounds.

Thanks to the support of auctioneers Nigel Ward & Co, members of RABI’s Monmouthshire committee were able to raise money for their cause by supplying refreshments during the company’s monthly auction of antiques, furniture and other collectables at Pontrilas Auction Rooms.

The afternoon tea and fashion show was held in a marquee at the farm of Tim and Olwen Parry, offering spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. A high-class fashion show was presented by Baroque Boutique of Abergavenny, with stunning outfits modelled for a sizeable audience.

There were some fabulous raffle prizes too, including a painting, ‘View at Skomer and Skokholm’ (valued at £400), kindly donated by Court Robert Arts.

Gwilym Richards, Monmouthshire committee chair, said: “We had three extremely busy days and I’m grateful to committee members and the generous people of Monmouthshire for supporting our efforts. We raised a substantial amount of money to help farming people.”

Linda Jones, RABI regional manager for Wales, added: “I would like to thank our volunteers in Monmouthshire for pulling out all the stops over a challenging weekend. Our volunteers are the lifeblood of RABI and we greatly appreciate the enthusiasm and dedication they show to help others less fortunate than themselves. This was teamwork at its best!”

RABI would like to thank Tim and Olwen Parry of Brythe Farm, Marion and Coryn along with their models from Baroque Boutique, Court Robert Arts, Arla Foods Ltd, Morrisons, Abergavenny, and the Trumper family for their support for the afternoon tea and fashion show, and Nigel Ward and Julia Watkins from Pontrilas Auction Rooms for their generosity. Overall, the weekend’s events raised £3,198.88 for RABI.