Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

Norwich's much loved elephants raised a mammoth amount at the fantastic auction which saw the Go Elephants! herd sold off on 23rd September!!

An amazing event, Virginia McKenna, who founded the Born Free Foundation with her co-star husband Bill Travers, fought back the tears as she spoke to Norwich newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press, of how overwhelmed she was by people's generosity during the evening which raised £203,000 (of which 75% will be split between Born Free and children's cancer charity, CLICSargent)

“It has been enormously emotional, when you think of the amount of money people were giving it is quite staggering, I am speechless.”

Also present at the glittering champagne auction was Winnie Kiiru, one of Kenya's leading experts on elephants.

She said: “I am blown away, I can't believe the generosity of the people here tonight. I hope it is not the end, and people will continue to think about elephants in the wild and help them live forever.

“If Norwich can enjoy these 53 elephants think how much they will enjoy helping the 400,000 in Africa that need to be protected.”

Ms Kiiru also spoke of how poignant it was to see Meiluami (see Meiluami's story here) made by the children of Ol Moti School in her Kenyan community among the sculptures, which raised £5,000.

Before the auction started Ms McKenna gave a big thank you to all those in the project who have made it such a success, including the public who particularly took the elephants into their collective hearts.

She said: “I think the way Norwich has taken on board this wonderful concept is special and unique. The taxi driver who took me from the station to the hotel summed it up when he said it is the best thing that has happened to Norwich, and that the elephants put a smile on the faces of everyone who sees them.”

Managed by The Forum Trust with Wild in Art in partnership, the project had already raised nearly £200,000 in sponsorship alone from local businesses, to go to the Born Free Foundation to help real life elephants in their natural habitat and CLIC Sargent, a charity providing close support for children with cancer.

Mark Hand, events manager at the Forum, said: “It was hard to gauge how much some of the elephants would go for, but we did not expect some to reach the price they did. We are absolutely delighted.”