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May the fourth be with you! Star Wars enthusiast opens exhibition to the public at his Forres home

Mark Donald built many of the attractions by hand and is opening the exhibition up to the public on May 4.

By Ross Hempseed

May 2 2023, 5:00 pm

Mark Donald has spent years creating a museum to Star Wars in his back garden - and now he's opening it up to raise money for charity. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

A Star Wars enthusiast from Forres is raising funds for charity by displaying his vast collection of memorabilia in his garden.

Mark Donald has built dozens of models associated with the popular science fiction film series, including vehicles, droids and even Ewok huts.

He also purchased 22 life-size models of characters including Chewbacca, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Mr Donald has also created 11 homemade figures from scraps from around his home, which has always been his style from the beginning.

He has spent more than £25,000 transforming his back garden into a museum for all things Star Wars – complete with full-size ships and an Imperial bunker.

Now he has decided to put his collection to good use by hosting an exhibition in his garden to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Support.

It will open on May 4 – the official Star Wars Day.

Mark Donald enlists his daughters Caitlyn and Nicole to help with the painting of the exhibits. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

‘Do or do not, there is no try’

Mr Donald began collecting memorabilia when he lost out on a speeder bike, like the type used in the films, at an online auction.

He was then encouraged to create his own by a friend who referenced Yoda by saying, “Do or do not, there is no try”.

Mr Donald admitted it was hard work, but it was “the spark” that led him to begin creating his themed garden and six years later he has realised his vision.

And although the project required a lot of patience, he said that hadn’t been the hardest part.

“In some ways, the landscaping for this is the hardest because if I make a ship or robot I know roughly how it’s going to look and what I’ve to try and do but with the landscaping it’s not so easy.

Mark Donald’s Star Wars exhibition has been a labour of love – but has never been about money for him. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Mr Donald has always been a lover of Star Wars, but throughout all the films and characters his favourite is R2D2.

While his overall collector goal wasn’t to fundraise, Mr Donald decided it was the ideal opportunity to help others.

Mr Donald’s favourite character R2D2 is put pride of place in his garden exhibition. Image: Mark Donald.

Respect the effort

“Originally, I didn’t plan to do the Star Wars garden for charity raising I just was purely focused on the task of creating it,” he said.

“But well through the mission of it, I decided I didn’t want to charge anyone for visiting in case it would put people off coming and especially with the way people have been with money the past couple of years too.

“Instead, I figured a charity to raise money for would be nice to help those in worse situations, and also I amn’t looking for making money from this anyway.