The owners of a Sidmouth shop are ‘absolutely over the moon’ after their 10th anniversary exhibition netted £3,060 for a worthy cause.

Lynsey and Graham Pickwell marked their milestone at South West Art by asking people to fill a square-foot canvas. All of the proceeds have gone to Dogs for Good UK. The charity trains assistance dogs for adults and children with disabilities.

The couple only planned the initiative as a thank-you to their loyal customers, but saw its success snowball.

Lynsey said: “We are absolutely over the moon with the total amount raised. It well exceeded our target and we are so pleased for Dogs for Good UK. We would like to thank everyone that took part for making it such a successful event and for all the encouragement and assistance from so many people, both during and prior to the event. Some people went well out of their way to help us get the word out there about it. We have been repeatedly asked since to do it again. I’m sure we will, but maybe not every year. It is a lot of work and I think we may have to be prepared for it to get bigger next time!”

All of the pieces were unsigned to ensure people bought art they liked, rather than because they thought it could be valuable.