TV antique hunters

12/03/2007

Water women Lorraine Coulson and Louise Robinson have an eye for a bargain and their auction antics are to be screened on TV.

Lorraine and Louise, who both work for Northumbrian Water’s corporate affairs team based at Durham, are featured on the BBC Bargain Hunt show to be broadcast on Wednesday 14 March at 12.15pm.

Both women are active fundraisers for Northumbrian Water’s adopted charity WaterAid which works to give people in the developing world clean drinking water and toilets.

Lorraine, from Gateshead, has been to see WaterAid at work in India and Sunderland-born Louise, now living in Chester-le-Street, visited the African country of Ghana.

They applied to take part in the TV antiques show two years ago to raise money and publicise the work of the life-saving charity and after interviews were eventually chosen as bargain hunters.
 
Given £300 to buy three items at a Penrith antique fair they then put their cobalt amber Buddha, a Royal Doulton elephant figurine and a Georgian bonbon dish under the hammer at a Carlisle auction.

Lorraine said: “We chose items which could be related to WaterAid and the countries we visited in the hope that we had bought bargains and would raise money for the charity.”

Louise added: “Every pound really makes a difference in the developing world where several children die every minute because of disease caused by dirty water and where it only costs £15 to provide someone with safe drinking water and sanitation for their entire life.”