Miniature marvel makes big charity cash

Ben Woods It's a beautifully hand-crafted little home with pokers beside the fire place, tiny windowboxes filled with minute dried petals and even a parquet kitchen floor.

Ben Woods

It's a beautifully hand-crafted little home with pokers beside the fire place, tiny windowboxes filled with minute dried petals and even a parquet kitchen floor.

The four-bedroom doll's house, believed to be worth hundreds of pounds, has been donated to the air ambulance charity shop in Fakenham.

Yvonne Cox, from Little Snoring, has provided the two-storey model as the main prize in the charity shop's raffle.

The one-twelfth-scale house, called Bay View, has been restored and redecorated by Mrs Cox who has worked on previous models that have fetched over �1,000.

The raffle will be drawn on Saturday, June 19, with other prizes including a CD player and a �20 meat voucher.

Sylvia Howell, voluntary manager of the air ambulance charity shop, said: “Since we put the doll's house in the window last week we have sold �125-worth of tickets.

“It really is a wonderful model. It is delicately made with pokers beside the fireplace and beautiful chandeliers. We have lots of great prizes in the grand draw this year, but this one is superb.

“I would not be surprised if this doll's house is worth up to �600.”

Bay View is one of six different doll's houses that Mrs Cox has customised in the past seven years.

Taking nearly eight months to finish, it features hand-made roofing tiles that have been cut and painted from individual strips of cardboard, and window boxes fitted with tiny flowers made from dried petals.

Mrs Cox said: “I am pleased to donate the doll's house to the air ambulance because they do such a fantastic job helping people who are unfortunate enough to have accidents.”

Raffle tickets cost �1 and can be purchased from the shop.