#2019RABirthdayAuctions Start Tomorrow

/ August 16, 2019

This weekend the fun starts:

So, in case you haven’t quite caught the gist of it: The fan auctions in honour of RA’s birthday will start tomorrow and run until Tuesday to facilitate transferring the donation on Richard’s birthday on Thursday. Richard once said about gifts “I do, however, wish to ask, (…) as I look at the small mountain of carefully chosen gifts purchased with those hard earned pennies; wracked with guilt when I think of the potential that your collective generosity could provide for those who have much less than I do; for you to pause and consider. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for all your support and kind words, these are gifts enough!” And hence I invite you to consider buying *yourself* a gift – which will then turn into a donation for a charity, and subsequently into a gift for Richard.

This strategy has worked very well in previous years – many of you came together to support the auctions with contributions, donations and “marketing”. And even more of you are giving Richard a birthday gift by way of donating to the causes he champions on JustGiving. In fact, Richard’s JustGiving pages combined have generated more than USD$ 150,000!!! That is a stunning amount. Through our previous fundraisers since 2014 on this blog, we have generated more than USD$10,000 for charity! If you like the idea of a donation, you can donate to Richard’s charities through his fundraising pages on JustGiving. (You can find links to all of his charities on the RAnet landing page, just underneath the Amazon links.) As for the funds generated through the auctions: The proceeds (minus fees for eBay) will all go into the donation, as we are offering all auctions free of postage/packaging charges.

This year’s auctions will conclude in the afternoon/evening (in my time zone) of August 20th – a couple of days *before* Richard’s actual birthday. The auction winners will be automatically notified by eBay – and I am hoping that all monetary transactions will be concluded by Thursday, 22 August because I would love to transfer our donation on the day of Richard’s birthday. The auction proceeds will benefit Shelter, a registered charity that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing in England and Scotland. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people in need, and tackles the root causes of bad housing by lobbying government and local authorities for new laws and policies to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people. It works in partnership with Shelter Cymru in Wales and the Housing Rights Service in Northern Ireland.

As mentioned above, the auctions are hosted on eBay, which has a wide reach, makes bidding more reliable, easy and more anonymous, and has its own easy and secure payment service attached. You can already bookmark my eBay page for tomorrow. There are no auctions live yet, but I will activate them successively from late afternoon onwards.  I will provide an overview over all listings here, including pictures, descriptions and links. However, the auctions are taking place on eBay, *not* here. You will also find the small print in tomorrow’s post – please do read it, to avoid disappointment.

Right – enough said. I still have *eeeeeek* 25 auction descriptions to write 😱 . I think the weekly round-up may be cancelled…

Spread the word! And mark the date!

 

 

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31 thoughts on “#2019RABirthdayAuctions Start Tomorrow”

    • Hehe, I totally got my priorities wrong and tinkered with that video for hours this afternoon. But well, it’s all fun, and I am sure I will sleep even better for it 😉

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  4. Okay, my beach WiFi was not up to the video, but I’m back and all I can say is that video is f*cking awesome!! (Sorry Mr. Armitage—profanity totally f*cking indispensable.)

    *Sean Connery voice* Very James Bond!

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  5. Brilliant….just brilliant! You really know how to put the fun in fundraiser 😁 I can’t begin to tell you how much I look forward to this auction every year -and it’s all due to the way you make this event so special and celebratory; a genuine gesture of love and appreciation for a truly glorious, talented artist & a man whom we admire so much. Thanks so much for all you do and good luck- here’s wishing happy bidding to all. ❤️

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    • Aw, thank you Donna, for such an uplifting comment. You know, the auctions are a genuine highlight for me, too. It is always such fun working together with others to create something special. It couldn’t be done without your support! And yes, even if I moan a bit about the time spent on getting ready, it is all worth it. And *he* is worth it, too. 😘

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  7. The video is just excellent, well done!! I have a big grin on my face just now. I´m really looking forward!! Danke für alles!

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  9. Great video! I particularly loved the final photo of him with knuckle in mouth – his reaction to turning 48? lol
    Heaps of thanks for organising this once again G 😊

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  10. WOW Guylty! That’s a hoot! LOVE the video!! I may not bid but will contribute in one way or another for sure!! Thank you for all the hard work you put into this. I hope Richard appreciates it (presuming he gets to know ;)) and I hope lots and lots of us participate!! (((HUGS)))

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  11. I missed out on all the fun due to the obvious reasons and no time to prep. But i highly appreciate your prep and work including rhe cute and fun video. He’s actually a bit of a hobbit our Rich isn’t he? 😊 i fully support the cause and there are more people in need than ever. I am sure help will be much welcomed. God knows my funds are non existent for any auction participation but i am sure i won’t be alone in wanting to add some pennies to the final pot. As i keep reminding myself there are many so much worse off who will appreciate the help. So just say how and I’ll add it your way. I may not have had the mood to write or actively engage but doesn’t mean he’s not close to my mind. Every summer my calendar marks my Crucible Anniversary day and once again found myself on the only day off crazy stuff with same friend at Old Vic watching Present Laughter. We only missed Rich by 2 days. In fact though I’m living precariously out of a suitcase the only thing that didn’t go into storage with everything else anx does not represent a bare necessity is Pop Thorin. Go figure. Priorities… pants, bras, tooth paste and Pop Thorin. Glad i managed to connect my mobile to the iffy wif as the work laptop resisted it so far and ar least ican read up a bit

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  12. Pingback: First Notice: #2020RABirthdayAuctions | Guylty Pleasure

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