Have you already been waiting for the announcement? All year I have been sent donations in the shape of fan items for what has become an annual event:

The RA Birthday Auctions

Now going into their fourth year, the birthday auctions are a fun community event, driven by fans, with the objective of raising funds for charity – which will be donated in Richard’s name in lieu of a physical birthday gift. As in previous years, I am going to put a number of items up for auction on eBay. Fans are invited to bid for the items, generating donations and receiving something in return. In previous years we have successively pushed our final proceeds higher and higher – thanks to the generosity of fellow fans who have donated items for auction, other fans who have bid on and won items, as well as many community members who supported the auctions with voluntary financial donations as well as help with spreading the word. We have raised massive amounts ranging from 1,500 $ to 1,750 $, to1,780 $, to 2,560 $… (These are only the birthday auctions. There were a couple of other auctions that also raised big sums.)

So I am happy to announce that the 2019 RA Birthday Auctions will run from

Saturday, 17 August to Tuesday 20 August

The early auction time pre RA’s birthday is to facilitate transferring the donation via Just Giving on Richard’s *actual* birthday on Tuesday, 22 August, with a birthday message. It is also deliberately set to take place across weekend and week days so we can catch anyone whether they only access the internet at work or only at home. Different time zones will not make it easy for everyone *everywhere* in the world to follow the last and most exciting minutes of the auctions, but I hope that the automatic bidding features of eBay will also make it possible for fans from the opposite side of the globe to take part in the fun and have a shot at winning an auction.

As previously mentioned, there will be a little organisational change in this year’s auctions in that the fees for the eBay auctions will be deducted from the auction proceeds. I am going to pay the Paypal fees out of my own pocket as my contribution to the fundraiser. If there is any interest, I can reactivate the Paypal donation button on my blog for those who do not want to bid but contribute by way of a voluntary donation. In a previous conversation it was suggested that we benefit a charity this year, that fights homelessness – an issue close to Richard’s heart after his own encounter with a homeless man (see his tweets right). Richard has been supporting Shelter for many years through his Just Giving pages. In fact it was among his original four charities which he initially picked when he requested that fans funnel gifts for him into donations for charity.

Shelter has been campaigning to end homelessness and bad housing since 1966. The charity is active in England and Scotland and offers advice, information and advocacy to people in need. Shelter is also a practically-minded charity that assists people suffering or being faced with homelessness. It is actively fighting for legislative review of housing laws. You can find out more about Shelter on their website HERE. I hope you agree with me that Shelter is a worthy cause for us to support.

In the next couple of days I will get the auctions ready – putting fan packages together, photographing items, writing eBay blurbs, possibly creating a few additional items for the auctions. I will keep you up to date every day pre-auction, and I am grateful for any RT, share, re-post and shout-out. Frankly, I can’t wait for the birthday auctions. They are a fixture in my calendar, and this year they were also the event that determined my departure from Germany. No need to commiserate, though. It was time to go home, anyway, my mum is settled, and her new place is beautiful.

Unfortunately I was too distracted by assisting my mother with packing up, organising and actually moving her belongings into her new flat, otherwise I would’ve already started signal-boosting the upcoming fun. And I have to confess that other distractions have kept me from being more vigilant with the donated items that arrived over time. I apologise for that – and would greatly appreciate it if those of you who sent me items for auctions, would actually send me a little reminder e-mail. Nothing has gone missing – but I may have jumbled up items and may not be able to identify the generous donors anymore. Please also let me know whether you would like to be credited by (online) name as the donor. E-mail me at guylty@photographer.net.

So… mark the dates and get ready, ladies. August is going to be fun, again!