$7000 raised at Catwalk charity auction

More than $7000 was raised on Saturday night at a charity auction and dinner in Featherston on behalf of the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust.
Trust manager Meg Spiers said she is "thrilled' at the success of the evening at the Featherston Anzac Hall and is grateful to the 130 people who attended and the businesses and organisations who lent their support and donated prizes, including the Wairarapa Times-Age.
The event was organised by former All Black and Masterton realtor Marty Berry in support of the trust, which aims to help the victims of spinal cord injury to walk again.
Items that went under the hammer included a signed Al Black Tri Nations 2006 training jersey donated by the NZRFU, a Re/Max balloon ride for two at the next balloon festival in Wairarapa, A Tora walk for two and Adamson's Service Station petrol vouchers valued at over $700, a night at the White Swan in Greytown and lunch at Alana Estate in Martinborough with a McLeod's quad adventure experience, an Infinite Landscapes garden design package worth more than $1000, family of four and a car ferry ride with Bluebridge Strait Shipping, Vodka and enough water for a year from Dion Nash, and three Family portraits from Donald Yee in Greytown.
Featherston husband and wife Gordon Fridge and Pauline Gardiner, winners of the All Black training jersey that sold at auction for $900, said the victory at auction held a special significance for them.
Ms Gardiner, WellHealth clinical manager, said work colleague and former police youth aid officer Samantha Eddie suffered a spinal cord injury in a riding accident late last year, and the opportunity to contribute toward a chance of recovery for her friend was impossible to forgo.
"We had decided we'd only go to $500, but were more than happy to double the amount for Sam and others in similar need."
Patrons of the CatWalk Trust include Kiwi sporting legends Sir Brian Lochore, Aaron Slight, Lance O'Sullivan, and Dion Nash.
International patron for the Masterton-based trust is Princess Anne's daughter, leading equestrian Zara Philips.
The CatWalk Trust was originally formed in a bond of friendship to Masterton woman and former New Zealand representative equestrian Catriona Williams, who was critically injured in a riding accident that left her a tetraplegic.
An upcoming event for the trust is the Great Chefs of Wellington event next year, Mrs Speirs said.
?? Donations to the trust may be made online at www.catwalk.org.nz, or by way of a cheque posted to:
CatWalk, PO Box 555, Masterton.