Will Johnston: How men have fun at Ladies' Lunch

Will Johnston and Tiffany

Every year at Trustpower Arena, 1000 ladies get together and, through the Ladies' Charity Luncheon, change some people's life direction.

I know that sounds dramatic and overly emotive, but it's true. Even though the ladies (organisers Leona Smith and Wendy Robertson and their team) do the bulk (like 95 per cent) of the work and can actually multitask and bring it all together with such class and fun, this is a shout out to the men of the Ladies' Charity Luncheon!

There were men on stage who were for sale for the afternoon as waiters for tables.
They gave the women what they wanted and took their tops off (they've done A LOT of F45 it seems).

"Can you imagine if it was the other way around and it was women up there?"

It's entertainment; it was fun, and get off your high horse about it.

Plus they contributed to raising more than $200,000 for Tauranga Women's Refuge and the Blue Light Navigator Driver Programme (the two recipient charities this year — they pick a different two every year).

I was part of a small, but perfectly formed, team of men who led the 'Bond Boys'.

There are 40 of us every year who give our time to serve tables of ladies at the luncheon, have a laugh, top up drinks, sell raffles, help them bid on the items that have been donated and occasionally have our ego stroked when someone gives us a compliment.

We are called Bond Boys because we are supported and sponsored by Jason Dovey from Bond & Co in Tauranga. He offers massively discounted suits to the men who get involved and he buys a table every year.

Another 'Bond leader' is Dan Shea from Mills Reef who gives booze to the event every year, sells a mean raffle ticket — like as a lady you'd know you're being hustled, but he's so good looking you'd kind of like it — and has such a positive energy it's a wonder he's not run for some sort of political party yet.

Richard Craven From Lifetime Rothbury is another who guides the Bond Boys through the ravages and high pitched abuse on the ears that is the Ladies Charity Luncheon every year.

And then 007 himself, Graeme Smith. He's Leona's partner and just that guy who is a born leader. He's not a stresser, makes you feel included and important and has thought of that problem before you've come to him with it and is already halfway through the solution.

Finally, Grant Child from Eves Real Estate turns up every year and auctions off everything from overseas trips to a vasectomy. He and his team (funnily enough all made up of women for this event) smash it out of the park. They extract thousands of dollars from that crowd and they make it seem fun.

It really is an art what Grant does. And he's always a little shy when receiving the praise too, which to me a sign of real community person.

The Ladies Charity Luncheon 2019 raised just over $200,000 to be split evenly between the two charities. As I said at the start, life changing indeed!

— Will Johnston is the local 9am-3pm host for The Hits Bay of Plenty 95FM. He's also a celebrant and MC. Follow Will on Instagram on @radiowill.