Calling all Once Upon a Time fans! You have a unique opportunity this week to acquire some one-of-a-kind Once memorabilia and help out a cause supported by Once Upon a Time star Robert Carlyle. The British Once Upon a Time fansite, Once Upon a Fan has teamed with With Kids Glasgow to auction some fantastic items this week, including fan art, rare DVDs, a signed script and more.
In fact, Mr. Carlyle has donated a very special Once keepsake to the auction—Rumplestiltskin’s treasured chipped cup, used in last season’s “Skin Deep.” The cup is autographed by both Carlyle and Emilie de Ravin, who, of course, plays Belle in the series. Carlyle tweeted about it yesterday, including a photograph of him holding the Rumple’s treasured memento of Belle.
Begun last year as a single page blog, the Once Upon a Fan site has grown into a huge world-wide fan community. In addition to the main fan site, the group has a Facebook page with 11,000 "Likes," as well as 11,500 followers on Twitter. Site creator Gareth Hughes proudly noted to me that, “we recently celebrated a million site visits! It’s all non-profit and the writers work extremely hard and give up their own free time so I am very grateful to them for all their input. Big shout out to them.”
I recently “spoke” with Gareth, as well as Suzy Blair, community development coordinator of With Kids Glasgow via email to talk about the auction and the U.K. based charity. Gareth told me that he’d initially learned of the organization from Oncers who had sent him links to video interviews Carlyle had done as a With Kids ambassador. Here's Part 1 of that video interview:
“I was quite inspired by his passion for the project,” Gareth told me, “and could relate to his tales about growing up in Glasgow. I was born in quite a poor area of Merseyside. I know my parents struggled to make sure we had the best of everything so I could really relate to the difficulties that disadvantaged families go through and the idea that everybody deserves a chance, or a happy ending.”
With the fan site growing in popularity, Gareth believed it was an ideal time to “really do some good. The fans have just been amazing in the way they have sent in items for the auction or donated to the appeal. It really reinforces your faith in humanity to see what people have done.”
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Article comments
1 - Dr. Joseph S. Maresca
Really valuable things can be secured at auctions for a fraction of what they are worth. This is a great hobby! Linking this idea with a charity could produce surprising results.
2 - samiH
Yay Gareth! Im so proud
3 - barbara barnett
I love it when celebrities team with fans to do something worthwhile and nice.