They’ve been a feature of midweek TV for families for more than 30 years – now one of Vera Duckworth’s Coronation Street cardigans is set to be sold to raise funds for Shrewsbury Abbey.
The cardigan, worn by actress Liz Dawn MBE on the ITV soap, arrived at the Abbey on Monday after Gillian Keates, personal assistant to the Rev Chris Sims, wrote to bosses at Granada TV asking for prizes for the Abbey’s summer fair.
TV bosses came up trumps by sending the cardigan along with a card confirming its authenticity, and Mrs Keates admitted she had been thrilled to receive such a gift.
The cardigan is expected to be included in the raffle at the Abbey’s summer fair on July 5, but Mrs Keates said they were considering auctioning it off depending on the level of interest. The Abbey’s summer and Christmas fairs are the only fundraising events dedicated to maintaining the building. Among the projects in the pipeline is restoration work on the organ.
Mrs Keates said: “I wrote to Granada last week. They responded so quickly and I really didn’t expect anything like this.”
A spokesman for Coronation Street said: “Vera Duckworth, who died in January, was a very popular character on Coronation Street and we are always happy to help local causes.
“We hope the cardigan goes a long way towards helping the work at Shrewsbury Abbey.”