Celebrity auctioneer James Lewis has smashed the record for the longest ever auction and, in the process, raised more than £57,000 for 10 charities. Joey Severn reports.
"I'M feeling shattered. Absolutely shattered." Those were the words of TV auctioneer James Lewis just minutes after completing a word record-breaking auction lasting more than 24 hours.
"I'm thrilled that I have been able to do it," he said.
"It's not just me who broke the record, it's a massive team."
The world record attempt was filmed by IT suppliers Kira Supplies Ltd, who gave their time, expertise and equipment free of charge.
The DVD of the footage, along with records of each of James' breaks for food and other calls of nature, will be sent to Guinness World Records who will then decide whether the attempt is valid.
The money raised will be split between 10 charities, including Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Annabel's Angels and the Tiny Tim Trust.
"I want to thank everybody from Bamfords Auctioneers, Westfield, all of the charities and all of the hundreds of people of Derby who turned out in droves," said Mr Lewis.
"There was one gentleman who turned up in his dressing gown in the middle of the night who stayed with us throughout.
"We had a couple of people sleeping in their chairs at one point."
The auction, which began on Thursday evening at 6.30pm, was supposed to last 24 hours, but James continued a further two hours until 8.30pm.
He said the support had been "brilliant".
"Everybody gave everything they could," he said.
Mr Lewis said the auction had been "carefully planned" so he could have comfort breaks and a paramedic was on hand at all times.
"I was trying to think about the right amount and not eat silly things. I did not go for a curry last night," he joked.
"I tried to be as sensible as I could but I had a constant supply of fruit and vegetables and energy drinks.
"I had one break every four hours. I'd do a four-hour stint, then five hours, then four hours.
"It has just been brilliant. Thank you to everybody who was involved."
Kim Rodgers bid for the star lot of the auction – a Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 Sxi which was donated by Motorpoint of Derby.
The car, which had only a handful of miles on the clock, had a list price of £15,520, which included a year's road tax.
As the crowd of around 100 gathered there was an excited buzz as the lot got underway.
The motor raced to just under £9,000 and Mr Lewis very nearly brought the gavel down.
But then a man at the back of the room jumped in and thrust his card high into the air.
And so it went back and forth between three bidders until, eventually, the hammer came down at £11,500.
The stunned winner was Kim Rodgers, of Kedleston Road, Allestree.
The 58-year-old said: "I didn't even mean to buy it really. I was meant to be working on a roof today but it rained so I ended up here.
"I was curious as to what was going and was in the bank earlier on so I registered and then bid and won."
Mr Rodgers was not the only person to pick up a bargain at the auction.
The first lot under the hammer was a metre tall powder coated metal dinosaur.
Ian Pooley, from Gainsborough, who stayed for the whole auction, made the winning bid of £125.
Other lots included a break in New York, which went for £320, a tour of the Aston Martin factory, which sold for a whopping £750, and a week-long holiday to Spain went under the hammer for £160.
The event raised £57,218 for 10 charities, both local and national.
The idea of the auction was first discussed a year ago at a charity event held by Mary White, an executive member of the Tiny Tim Trust, who deals with their fundraising activities.
She said: "Me and James were speaking and he said about this idea he had.
"He said 'I have been a patron of the charity for three years and I don't feel I have done anything'.
"He explained that he was going to go for the record and that he wanted to raise money for the charity.
"We are quite a small group though and for us to try to get hold of the 2,400 lots that we needed for the auction would have been impossible."
So the pair decided that nine other charities would be chosen to benefit from the cash.
Mary said: "We got the charities together and everyone began looking for donations.
"About three months ago, we were really worried about not having enough and that we would be short."
But then that drought turned into a deluge as the people of Derbyshire dug deep.
Mary said: "Earlier this week we were having to say that we had enough. We really couldn't cope with any more.
"It is incredible, given that we are supposed to be in a recession, that people have been so generous. Westfield staff have also been fantastic and we had a stockroom here which was full of lots."
For Mary, organising the auction has been six months of full-time work, culminating in the manic 26-hour sale.
Mary said: "It has been a fantastic event and something which I think we could learn a lot from.
"Bringing together 10 charities, a large corporate company and an auctioneers might not have worked.
"But it has been fantastic.
"I think we will definitely look into working with one another again.
"It would seem like a good idea for all charities to get together to be able to do something like this in the future."
SHOPPING CENTRE BRACED FOR ITS BUSIEST WEEKENDBOSSES at Westfield Derby shopping centre have predicted this weekend will be its busiest of the year.
They believe that many shoppers will choose to visit after receiving their last pre-Christmas pay cheque this week.
This year, the centre has attracted a number of new retailers and food outlets, including Simply Be, Jacamo, Ryman, Wagamama and Ed's Easy Diner. Centre officials said that a number of retailers will be offering discounts this weekend.
Senior centre manager Nigel Wheatley said: "Christmas shopping is already well under way and this weekend will, no doubt, be our busiest yet as we predict our highest footfall figures of the year.''
Westfield has extended its opening hours to 9pm every Thursday and Friday.
From Monday, December 9, the centre will be open until 9pm on all week nights and from Monday, December 16, it will be open until 10pm on week nights until December 23.
