Matchbox labels boost Malmesbury’s Oxfam (From This Is Wiltshire)

A donation of matchbox labels to Malmesbury’s Oxfam shop has led one of its volunteers on a fundraising pub crawl around Wiltshire and beyond.

The labels, which were given in an album, show pictures of public houses and hotels in the area including Malmesbury’s The Old Bell, The King’s Arms and The George, now the George Vetinary Surgery.

Oxfam volunteer Bob Browning, who has worked in the Malmesbury shop for more than ten years, came up with an idea to copy the labels onto A4 paper, mounting them into a frame with the original label, and selling them to the places in the pictures.

Mr Browning has raised nearly £300 for Oxfam with his project, by taking the pictures to the pubs and asking for a donation.

He said: “I’ve always been an arty-crafty person and it seemed a logical idea.

“Some are original drawings, some are black and white photographs, and some are colour.

“The reaction has been very positive – one almost snatched my arm off when he saw it.

“The first one I sold was to the Holford Arms in Tetbury. They gave me a very generous donation and a free pint.”

So far, Mr Browning’s project has taken him to Devizes, Castle Combe and Ford, but some of the 40 labels will take him as far as Weymouth.

The mounting of the pictures has been done by local artist John Clarke, who has also volunteered his time to the project.

Mr Browning said: “John’s a member of Malmesbury Art Society. He said he’d do it and it’s wonderful.”

Christine Holdway, manager of the Malmesbury Oxfam store, said: “He’s shown a huge amount of initiative and taken the time to go and sell the product to the pubs.

“It’s really good, and fantastic that we as a charity will benefit.”