A TEENAGE graffiti fan has raised over £13,000 for charity after auctioning off work donated by famous urban artists.

Liam Patel, 16, of Grosvenor Road, Wanstead, raised £13,320 for Haven House Children’s Hospice after spending a year and a half persuading artists to put their art under the hammer.

The money will go towards much-needed equipment for the disabled children’s hospice, where necessities such as baths cost as much as £32,000.

The Forest School pupil, currently studying for his GCSEs, decided to curate the auction after breaking his arm and shoulder.

The injury meant he could not volunteer to do physical work for the Woodford Green charity as part of his Duke of Edinburgh award.

“I really enjoyed the experience of organising the auction. It took a long time to collect all the donated pieces but it was fantastic to work with such interesting artists in this genre,” said Liam.

“I’m really pleased with how it went. My target was £10,000 so I’m delighted that I’ve exceeded this.”

The auction, which took place on April 6 at Dreweatts’s Auction House in West London, drew a huge crowd as part of a wider urban art auction, which included works by Banksy.

Liam managed to sell British-born artist Schoony’s sculpture, called Boy Soldier Panel Gold, for £2,400 while Ryan Callanan’s Pink Face sold for £550 and Holly Thoburn’s painting Revived sold for £750.

Haven House chief executive Ian Sparks said: “This is an astonishing achievement by Liam. I was at the auction and it was clear that he knows about contemporary art and has the respect of the artists.”

Graffiti is considered a controversial topic, with many people describing artists as ‘vandals’, but Liam stands up for the medium.

“It’s not just about having a name on a wall: graffiti is actually a really complicated art form.

“Instead of just reading newspapers it’s quite an eye-catching thing to look at and engages people more because it stands out. It’s nice to see something different.”