THE GRAND CHARITY AUCTION
 

It never ceases to amaze us at how much talent and generosity there is out there in the MOT community.

Every year participants provide us with items which they have made, or had made, and donated for us to auction - all in the name of charity.
Occasionally there have been rare items, Minor or motoring memorabilia, and the like, which have also been most welcome.

Whilst we very much appreciate anything which is donated to us for the auction, most buyers like to feel that what they have bought is unique, and will be a lasting memory of their holiday with their friends.

This traditional part of MOT started in 1990 when the trip went for the first time to the Loire Valley in France. One of our lady members painted a water-colour of a few wild flowers whilst we were in Amboise, which was auctioned during our annual get-together evening meal in a restaurant in the town. We were spread over three interconnecting rooms so the auction was an interesting experience. It did raise a considerable sum for the trip charity, and so started something which over the years has raised a tremendous amount of money for worthy causes.
Since then the number of donated items has risen, often to around 30, and now we usually raise about £2000 during an evening set aside specifically for the Auction.
If you would like to donate an item, we would ask you to bring it along on MOT, and give it to the organisers as soon as practical. The only other thing we would ask is that you to remember is that it shouldn't be over-large, or too delicate; you have to get it there and the purchaser has to get it home.
 
Over the years we have bought items from the auction, and are they are all constant reminders of some of the best holidays we have ever had. These include appliqué cushions depicting the front and rear of a Minor Saloon exactly the same as one of ours, an appliqué tea cosy, a cross-stitch cushion detailing all of the MOT venues, a wall clock whose face is a cross-stitched Minor Traveller, a bowl of hand-carved wooden fruit, a decoupage picture depicting the cartoon which was drawn especially for the MOT to the South of France in '95, and more recently a pastel drawing of a Thames Sailing Barge, and, from the 2003 trip to Brittany, a framed cross stitch.