Celebrity items raise nearly £150k for East Anglia's Children's Hospices

More than 200 items donated by celebrities including Ed Sheeran, Cate Blanchett, Sir Paul McCartney and Ant and Dec have raised nearly £150,000 for a children's hospice charity.

The East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) auction was the idea of comedian and actor, Griff Rhys Jones.

He said there was "wild and marvellous bidding right up to the end".

The top bid received was £23,000 for an original piece of work called Night Mare by artist Tracey Emin.

The online auction, which started on 27 November, raised £146,466 for the charity, which has The Duchess of Cambridge as its royal patron.

Rhys Jones said: "It was a top-drawer result for the bottom-drawer auction, with wild and marvellous bidding right up to the end.

"I want to thank everybody who donated their treasures, everybody who bid and all the back room folk who made it happen, and now have quite a job ensuring that everything gets to the right place as quickly as possible."

Some of the best-performing items included a headcollar worn by racehorse Enable and signed by one of the charity's ambassadors, Frankie Dettori, that went for £10,500; and a Rolex watch from Dawn French that raised £8,000,

Becky Redbond, from the charity, said: "Like all charities, it's been a very tough year for EACH, but this certainly gives us a great and much-welcome boost at the end of it."

It had forecast a loss of £2.2m in funding over the next 12 months - a third of what it needs to support families across East Anglia.

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