Glasgow man finds rare musical instrument in attic and donates £1,500 to cancer charity

A Glasgow man who found a rare musical instrument in his loft after watching an antiques show on TV has donated over £1,500 to charity.

Robert Harley, who lives in Partick, was watching Flog It on TV when he spotted a rare concertina being sold for £900 and recalled he owned a similar item in his loft.

The 70-year-old found his Wheatstone instrument, which had been lying in the loft for at least 20 years, was more valuable than the one sold on the show due to being in a better condition.

He took the instrument, similar to an accordion, to auctioneers McTear’s where it sold for £1,900 and he received just over £1,500 for the item.

Susan Swan (Cancer Support Specialist) & Robert Harley after he donated proceeds from musical instrument found in attic. Supplied

Robert decided to donate the full amount to cancer charities Maggie’s and Cancer Support Scotland – with the latter closing down earlier this year after 40 years of helping patients.

He said: “On the programme the concertina which was a Wheatstone was valued at £500 because of its condition and it sold for £900.

“I remembered that I had a similar one in the loft which had been lying up there for at least 20 years.

“The auctioneers put an estimate of £800 to £1,200 and added to their next musical instrument auction where it sold for £1,900 once fees etc had been taken off I got £1,511.

“I don’t remember anyone in the family playing this instrument so not sure who originally it came from, but I got it from my dad.”

He added: “Maggie’s and Cancer Support Scotland have helped me on my cancer journey and I thought it would be nice if they could benefit from the sale of the concertina which had been lying in the loft gathering dust.

“I was surprised the concertina went for £1,900 but happy too that this money was going to charities that provide excellent support to help us through our cancer journeys.”

Kerry Craig, centre head at Maggie’s Glasgow said: “Our team were thrilled to hear Robert’s story and grateful for his generosity in donating the proceeds of the auction to Maggie’s.

“We are happy we were able to support him on his cancer journey and would urge anyone seeking cancer support to just come in.”

For more information about Maggie’s, visit www.maggies.org/glasgow.