On 31/5/2003 SCA Honorary Director, Gary Allsop, held his first Victorian charity fundraiser at the Flemington Racecourse.

About 300 guests attended the function to raise money for spinal cord research. A sumptuous three course meal was served and people were enthralled by the decor and the amount of celebrity memorabilia available.

Hosted by the multi-talented SANDRA SULLY - Network Ten News Presenter, SCA patron, the whole night was a huge success. First, the audience was treated to the bubbling humour of Dave O’Neill from Nova 100 breakfast and star of ‘The Nugget’. Then we were entertained by the wonderful voice of Frank Amorosi. Special guests who attended on the night were Kangaroos Captain Anthony Stevens, Vice-Captain Glenn Archer and Herald Sun sports journalist Mike Sheahan. One of the highlights of the night were the fifty live auctions of framed and signed items by the one and only Bill Wellwood, auctioneer extraordinaire, an entertainer in his own right.

The top price item was a set of replica silks that Roy Higgins wore when he rode Lightfingers in 1965 to a Melbourne Cup win, donated by Roy Higgins, also a SCA patron, which sold for $4100. Other items that brought a great price were Kylie Minogue’s t-shirt, which sold for $2500, Steve Waugh’s shirt $2000, Barry Sheene’s shirt $2000, a Richmond jumper $2100, a Collingwood jumper $1550 and a signed M*A*S*H script from Alan Alda which went for $1500. From a crowd of 300 people, the bidding was fast and furious and Bill did a great job getting the ultimate result.

There were many silent auction items and at the end of the night everything sold. Also there were generous giveaways, so no one walked out empty handed. There was a monster raffle with 40 prizes, the top prize being two return tickets to Singapore donated by Singapore Airlines. At the end of the night, a total sum of $80,000 was raised for spinal cord research. It is a fantastic amount of money, which will be channeled into research projects here in Australia.

Everybody who attended commented what a great night they had. SCA would like to sincerely thank all of our sponsors, in particular the Victorian Racing Club, without their support from the outset the night could not have happened; Holden Limited; Singapore Airlines and the ANZ bank. I would personally like to thank Rozalee Erceg from the VRC, my hard working committee and everybody who attended.

by Gary Allsop - Honorary Director