A brand new Mercedes Benz A class was driven straight from the showroom and into the hands of a lucky auction winner at a gala dinner held in aid of the NSPCC’s Building Brighter Futures Appeal at Cardiff City Stadium last weekend.
Investor and Chairman of Moorhouse Group, Lyndon Wood took home the Mercedes after bidding £13,000 to win the car at auction. The car, which was generously donated by Nick Payne from Mercedes Benz of Cardiff and Newport, part of the Sinclair Group, was one of many fabulous auction prizes donated to the children’s charity which helped the event raise more than £40,000.
Lyndon said: “Tonight has been fabulous, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself and to top it all off I’m taking a car home with me! I didn’t plan on buying a car tonight but it was definitely worth it as I know I’ve helped to support a very worthwhile charity.”
Mike Hall, event organiser and NSPCC Building Brighter Futures Appeal board member said: “It was an extremely successful night and I am grateful to not only Mercedes Benz Sinclair Group for their generous donation, but to all the companies and individuals who kindly donated a prize to either the auction or the raffle for the evening. Without their support and the support of those that attended, this event would not have been the success that it was.”
The auctioning of the car was not the only highlight of the evening, Welsh classical singer and 2007 X Factor runner up, Rhydian Roberts, along with Sophie Evans, runner up on the BBC’s Over the Rainbow, performed live at the gala dinner in front of almost 400 guests.
Guests were also treated to further live performances from South Wales based dance troupes, Starburst and Eclipse. Starburst performed earlier this year on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent and Eclipse were semi-finalists on Sky 1’s Got to Dance in January
Compères for the evening were Cardiff born model, Danielle Lineker and former Welsh rugby player, Nigel Walker. Both of whom are Building Brighter Futures Appeal Board members.
Chair of the Building Brighter Futures Appeal, Sir Stanley Thomas OBE said: “I would like to thank Mike Hall and the Appeal board for organising a wonderful evening which raised a fantastic amount of money for such a worthwhile cause. The fabulous entertainment from Rhydian, Sophie, the Rat Pack and the dance troupes helped make the evening an overwhelming success.”
Money raised from this event will go towards the NSPCC’s Building Brighter Futures Appeal, which funds the development of services for children and young people in Wales who have suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
Thanks to the generosity of supporters and donors, the appeal has raised more than £3 million to date, which has enabled the charity to open its new flagship centre for Wales, Diane Engelhardt House. But a further £1.5 million is needed to develop services even further and ensure that the charity can continue to make a fundamental difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people across Wales.
In addition to working directly with young people, trained practitioners at the new centre provide support to parents to help them understand the affects of abuse, how to take children out of an abusive environment and how to protect children from those who abuse.
By donating to the Building Brighter Futures Appeal, the public can help change a child’s life. To make a donation, please visit www.nspcc.org.uk/brighterfutures
