Suffolk charity GeeWizz announces that the Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk Legacy Auction raises an incredible and life-changing £406,000 in bids, plus an additional £100,000 donation.
This brings the total raised to over £500,000 for children and young people, across East Anglia, with disabilities and life-limiting illness www.edsheeranmadeinsuffolklegacyauction.com
Over 220 highly collectable items of memorabilia, artworks and experiences went under the virtual, online hammer, attracting bids from around the world.
The Auction featured personal items donated by Ed and his family, and was also supported by international musicians, artists and sports legends. Bidders were also able to choose from a wide range of fine dining, hospitality, entertainment, sporting and live music experiences including the chance to attend the 2022 GRAMMY Awards.
Ed Sheeran’s abstract painting Dab 2, the only artwork he has ever made available for public sale, was the star lot reaching £40,000 whilst his handwritten lyrics for Perfect, dedicated to his wife Cherry, fetched £23,500.
Other top lots included a signed Damien Hirst print fetching £20,000, an original page of script from Love Actually at £17,000. Colin Davidson’s Ed Sheeran sketch which raised £12,400 and John Mayer’s PRS Silver Sky guitar went for £5,100. Even a small handful of Ed Sheeran’s childhood Lego added to the final total at an incredible £4,150.
The bidding heated up during the final closing hours on Sunday 8 November with the following lots receiving the top 20 bids:
1) Ed Sheeran Painting Dab 2
£40,000
2) Ed Sheeran Handwritten and Signed Lyrics for Perfect
£23,500
3) Ben Mosley painting – Ed & the Castle, signed by Ed Sheeran
£20,000
4) Damien Hirst – Limited Edition signed Patience print
£20,000
5) Love Actually – Original Page of Script from Richard Curtis
£17,000
6) Colin Davidson – Ed Sheeran portrait
£12,400
7) Mereway Kitchens – Bespoke Kitchen Units
£10,600
8) Signed Ed Sheeran Signature Edition Martin Guitar
£6,700
9) Ticket and Handbill for Ed Sheeran’s First Public gig
£6,400
10) Personal SMART Garden Office
£5,600
11) Original signed Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet Photograph
£5,300
12) Signed John Mayer PRS Silver Sky Guitar
£5,100
13) Signed Rolling Stones ‘Their Satantic Majesties’ Request Gold Disc
£4,650
14) Lord of The Rings Poster signed by Peter Jackson & Cast
£4,250
15) Personalised signed Ed Sheeran Multiply Tour Programme
£4,150
16) Collection of Ed Sheeran’s Childhood Lego
£4,150
17) 2 Gold Level Tickets to the 2022 GRAMMY Awards and After-Party
£4,150
18) Exclusive use of Ipswich Town Football Stadium
£4050
19) 4 VIP Tickets to Latitude Festival for 10 Years
£4050
20) Somerleyton Hall 12 Guests to stay for two nights as guests of Hugh and Lara Somerleyton
£3850
The Auction was organised by Gina Long, founder of GeeWizz children’s charity, working closely with Ed’s parents John and Imogen Sheeran, who wanted to create a lasting legacy from the Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk Exhibition in Ipswich, which opened last year.
“Without the incredible generosity of Ed, John and Imogen Sheeran, our sponsors, auction lot donors from around the world, our Legacy Auction fundraiser would simply not have happened.” Gina Long said.
“We are especially indebted to our headline sponsor Guy Nicholls tru7 Group, who an addition to the £406,000 we have raised in the online auction, has donated a further £100,000, bringing our total raised to over £500,000. Seeing the huge amount, we have raised, fills all of us on the auction team with joy, knowing our wonderful legacy projects can now become a reality.
“The response has been truly remarkable, especially during such challenging and uncertain times. But it is in this very different world that the need to deliver our two life-changing legacy projects could not be greater. Our legacy auction is literally going to change many lives for the better, that has to be the greatest gift of all.”
All proceeds from the auction will help GeeWizz children’s charity and Zest (St Elizabeth Hospice) to fund two vital projects supporting children, teenagers and young people across East Anglia with special educational needs, high dependency disabilities, life-limiting illness and cancer.
“The total raised is way beyond our expectations and we are so pleased that it will create important lasting legacies to improve the quality of care and wellbeing for children and young adults across Suffolk and beyond,” Ed’s father John Sheeran said.
“Imogen and I would like to thank everyone who generously donated lots, joined in the bidding, and organised and supported the auction. We cannot think of a better legacy for the exhibition to leave.”
For further information on the final bidding and the two charitable legacy projects, visit www.edsheeranmadeinsuffolklegacyauction.com and follow on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for regular updates #SuffolkLegacy