Spurred on by a stirring speech from Stoke School principal Pete Mitchener, June Ferguson was happily the highest bidder for a campervan trip at the Walk with Us charity auction last week.
The auction raised $13,000 in total for the trust, which gives school or sports shoes to needy students from various local schools. The main auction item was a ten day trip around the South Island in a campervan from Discover NZ. June, of Stoke, bid $1500 for it as a surprise 60th birthday present for her husband. But having a photo in the paper meant she had to confess to the auction win and ruin the surprise. “He was happy, though,” she says.
Trust president Carole Shirley says the auction was a huge success and the trust wanted to thank Nelson for supporting it.
“We were pretty impressed with how much we raised, and we’re now looking at widening the number of schools that we go to because we now have enough money to go further.”
Currently, the trust will accept applications for shoes from Auckland Point, Victory, Birchwood, Stoke, Henley and Wakefield schools.
Stoke School principal Pete Mitchener spoke emotionally at the auction about the joy and pride the shoes give the students.
