Props from botched Willy Wonka-inspired experience raise £2,000 for charity

Props from an infamous Willy Wonka-inspired event in Glasgow have raised more than £2,000 at auction for a Palestinian aid charity.

The backdrops from Willy’s Chocolate Experience – which was brought to a halt on its opening day as parents demanded their money back – were found in a bin.

Glasgow record store Monorail Music auctioned the items on eBay after they were passed on by the finder.

Michael Kasparis, Monorail’s online manager, said they were bought by musician Ben Howard.

Mr Kasparis said everyone was watching the auction “like you’d watch the end of a football game”, adding: “It was £900 and then jumped to £1,050, then one second before it closed it was £2,050 and it came through at £2,250.

“We’d thought if it goes into four figures we’d be very happy so it was a pretty amazing result.

“I was slightly worried that the joke had gone but it doesn’t look like it’s going away any time soon.”

The money raised is being donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians to help provide support in Gaza.

Mr Kasparis said: “I personally was a little bit worried that the auction was a bit silly for the cause but we thought if it raises money that’s the most important thing.

“It’s a charity we’ve all donated to and that we all care deeply about and it was kind of a no-brainer when we thought to auction it for charity.”

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Willy’s Chocolate Experience gained viral notoriety after images and videos of the event were shared online.

The £35-a-ticket experience at Box Hub was sold as a “chocolate fantasy like never before” where “dreams become reality”.

Instead, families were met with a near-empty venue decorated with a handful of Wonka-themed props and a small bouncy castle.

Parents also told of how their children only received a couple of sweets and a quarter of a can of limeade.

Performers at the event described it as a place “where dreams went to die” and said the scripts had been AI-generated.

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Earlier this week it was announced that the breakout star of the event, The Unknown, will be scaring children at London Dungeon this Easter.

Glasgow teenager Felicia, 16, made headlines for her performance as an evil rival chocolate-maker that lived in the walls of the factory.

Dressed in a black cape and silver face mask, terrified children were recorded wailing “no” in fear when she slipped out from behind a mirror.

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The teenager will now put that experience to good use with a guest appearance at London Dungeon on 7 April.

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