Editorial: Charity groups $2m richer

Tauranga Police CIB Charity Auction Founding trustee Pete Blackwell. Photo / Andrew Warner

The 20th and final Tauranga Police CIB Charity Auction went out on a high note on Friday, raising a record $400,000.

After starting modestly in 1995 with a charity auction that raised $200, the annual event grew exponentially.

In total, it has raised $2.3 million for local charitable organisations, highlighting the willingness of Bay residents to support a good cause.

The tireless work of the organising committee, especially founding trustee Pete Blackwell, was acknowledged on Friday night.

Arranging the speakers and the array of items to auction required an enormous amount of work that resulted in a major boost for local charities.

Judge Paul Geoghegan took to the stage on Friday to thank Mr Blackwell for his efforts over the past 20 years.

"You [Mr Blackwell] have changed the lives of so many people in this community. It's impossible to calculate the difference you've made," he said.

The sponsors who each year donated the goods to be auctioned also deserve praise because without them such a massive fundraising exercise would not have been possible.

Mr Blackwell told the attendees that the trustees felt it was important to go out on the "top of their game" and they certainly achieved that.

The Tauranga Police CIB Charity Auction has been an event to be proud of and it enabled some extremely deserving programmes to continue their important work in the community. It is sad to see such a fantastic event come to an end but it leaves a wonderful legacy.