Unsung Heroes: Panelbeater's charity bash turns out to be a real hit

Steve Noyer not only organised the breast-cancer fundraiser Fight for a Cure, he also spent 12 hard weeks training to fight at it. Photo / Steve McNicholl

When panelbeater Steve Noyer announced he was organising a charity boxing bout featuring other panelbeaters and insurance assessors, many in the industry thought it was the "worst thing that could happen".

But the event, "Fight for a Cure", not only raised $205,000 for the Breast Cancer Research Trust, it also united the industry for a rare night where business was swapped for fun.

Mr Noyer said industry players didn't get the chance to mix enough so the event provided the ideal platform for mingling without talking "shop" and, more importantly, to raise a lot of money for a good cause.

"It was great for the industry. Lots of people thought it could be the worst thing that could happen, with panelbeaters smashing assessors, but it turned out to be the complete opposite," he said.

"Everyone got behind it and it was a good night," with a result that exceeded even organisers' high expectations.

Mr Noyer, 43, was one of the fighters who trained solidly for 12 weeks to prepare for the event. "I had to put my hand up if I organised it. Everyone was focused, no one wanted to lose. At the same time we didn't want to go out there and kill people ... But people had paid big money to be entertained."

Fight for a Cure was held last month at the Trusts Stadium in Henderson.

It wasn't Mr Noyer's first foray into fundraising for the Breast Cancer Research Trust. For three years, he organised a display at the Kumeu car show which raised almost $70,000 over that time.

Last year alone, a gold-coin donation for his display raised $28,000.

"That's not bad for a weekend of gold-coin donations."

The idea to raise money for breast cancer research came from a staff member whose wife died from the disease several years ago. He said she was also a "dear friend" to him.

Now the entire team at his panel shop, Moselle Panel and Paint in Henderson, are proud supporters of the trust.

Each of the 13 staff now wears the trust's logo on his or her uniform.

Mr Noyer said that through their fundraising they had become quite close to the trust, which was thrilled when they initially approached it with the idea for the boxing event.

With such a lot of work required to organise the fundraiser, he didn't know if one could be held in the same city each year but there was already talk of another event next year in Christchurch that could be followed by a North Island versus South Island bout in 2012.