Sir Bobby’s Breakthrough online charity auction came to an end on Sunday after it helped raise around £350,000 for cancer services – £150,000 more than in 2011.
The online auction has seen extraordinary support from world class sports icons, celebrities and leading businesses helping to help raise funds in memory of Sir Bobby Robson who died of cancer in 2009.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola, Andre Villas-Boas, Mark Webber, Graeme Swann, José Mourinho, Bill Nighy, Amanda Holden and many others got behind the fundraiser by donating over 300 money-can’t-buy experiences and items which fans dug deep and bid for between the 10th and 27th October.
Among the most sought after items were a training session and lunch for two with Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas Boas, which went for more than £9,300, a three and a half month world cruise which was officially the biggest cash-raiser of the auction when bidders pushed it up to £9,400
Other stand-out items included VIP access for two to watch “Match of the Day” from the BBC Studios in Manchester which raised over £4,600 and attracted the highest number of bids at 120. A signed painting by Sir Alex Ferguson and an invitation to meet him and watch New Castle Play Manchester United also drew attention, raising an impressive £4,500.
Watching Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates train, then seeing them play at the Nou Camp sold for an impressive £4,000, while an all-paid overnight stay and match tickets to see Barcelona play Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium next March, as the personal guest of former England, Newcastle and Ipswich midfielder star Kieron Dyer, sold for £3,650.
Attending the training of Bayern Munich and a meet and greet with manager Pep Guardiola – who played under Bobby at Barcelona – also saw over 50 bids before selling for £3,450.
Lunch with actor Bill Nighy and VIP tickets to Britain’s Got Talent with Amanda Holden also proved popular, finishing on £4,000 and £3,450 respectively, while the opportunity to name an Eddie Stobart lorry raised £1,720.
Thousands of bids took place as fans went head to head for over 330 prizes. Many items saw a flurry of bids in the final weekend, helping to push the grand total up by 75% compared to the last Sir Bobby auction back in 2011.
Dozens of new items were donated week upon week, including a training session with Graeme Swann at Lords, a racing overall signed by formula one driver Mark Webber and an afternoon with sports writer Henry Writer which all raised between £2,000 and £4,000 each.
The grand total is still expected to rise as calculations add up and all the funds raised will go the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and two Suffolk hospitals to help continue the global fight against the world’s biggest disease – cancer.
As a result of the tremendous ongoing support, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation continues to fulfill Sir Bobby’s ambitions to find more effective ways to detect and treat cancer. This year, work has included funding an Imaging Flow Cytometer for £438,000, which allows scientists to see cancer cells that may be circulating in a patient’s blood.
Gina Long, Founder of Sir Bobby’s Breakthrough Auction and Ball, says: “We’re really happy with how the auction has gone. We’ve raised a huge amount of money in only two weeks and we know how important that money is to our chosen cancer charities.
“We’re still finalising the accounts but it will be around the £350,000 mark and at least £150,000 more than we raised in our first year.
“It just shows the colossal amount of love and respect people have for Sir Bobby and his cancer charity. It also highlights the great desire so many of us share to beat cancer.
The support we’ve had for it this year has been absolutely incredible and my greatest and deepest thanks go to every single person who donated an item and to all the people who generously bid as well. The effort everyone has made will make a real difference in fighting this terrible disease. And one day, if we continue to help fund the scientists and medical staff, we will beat it.”
Sir Bobby Robson’s widow, Lady Elsie says: “We’re extremely grateful to everyone who has so generously supported Sir Bobby’s Breakthrough Auction.
“It has been a remarkable fundraising venture. And all the more remarkable knowing the team behind it are volunteers.
“Special thanks must go to organiser Gina Long for her great commitment to the charity auction and ball. She has worked so hard and we’re very proud of all that she and her team have achieved.
“We’d like to thank everyone who donated or bid on an auction item. The money raised will help us continue the work Bob began when he launched this charity five years ago.”