Record Breaking Charity Auction!

Born Free Patron and celebrity auctioneer James Lewis (pictured left, with Anna-Louise) pulled out all the stops for a world record-breaking 24-hour charity auction and gala evening in Derbyshire.

The epic event began at 6.30pm on Friday 21st June, and saw bidding on over 1,000 lots at Bamfords Auction House in Bakewell. The auction continued for 24 hours, and saw James become the new Guinness World Record holder for longest auction by a solo auctioneer!

As the action drew to a close on Saturday evening, James joined over 100 guests at Holme Hall for Out of Africa – the auction finale and celebration, held in support of the Born Free Foundation. Pollyanna was honoured to be a longstanding patron of Born Free – and Anna-Louise was honoured to be invited to represent her at the event. The event was attended by a number of other celebrities including actress Rula Lenska, actor John Altman and actor and conservationist Dan Richardson.

The evening opened with a procession of African dancers and drummers, joined by life-sized elephant puppet Oona – star of Michael Morpurgo’s Running Wild. Born Free Co-Founder Virginia McKenna OBE welcomed guests and thanked everyone for their support, before James got back behind the rostrum and continued with the final auction items, despite his voice being almost gone!

During the evening Anna-Louise was interviewed by BBC Radio Derby, talking about Pollyanna’s long time connection with Born Free, and her own association with the charity.

At the end of the night, an estimated £100K had been raised – helped by the auction of one of Pollyanna’s original artworks – with the final amount still to be confirmed. This incredible total will help support Born Free’s ongoing rescue work.