AWN The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is flying high thanks to the latest round of donations from AWN following the annual end-of-season charity auctions recently.
The auction of specially selected wool, at selling centres across the nation, has raised more than $13,000 this year with the relationship between AWN and the RFDS now reaching the 20-year mark.
Each year, in the final selling week of the season, AWN donates the proceeds from these bales to support the vital service the RFDS provides across rural and remote Australia, which helps reduce the disparity of health service access in these areas.
Across the nation, wool buyers have been proud to dig deep to help AWN support the RFDS. Two bales of wool sold in Sydney for $4200, two bales in Melbourne made $3024, $2000 was raised by AWN Fremantle while Dyson Jones Fremantle made $3,771.85.
Southern NSW wool technical officer and auctioneer Cassie Baile said it was fantastic to see the good competition for the bales.
“In such a difficult market it was great to be able to achieve good results. We offered two bales of 17.1-micron MF4E wool which is one of the highest quality lines available. The wool measured 87mm and was specially selected for this auction. VBC were the successful buyers at 1400c greasy and it was fantastic that the RFDS’ south eastern section community fundraising co-ordinator Sarah Doherty was on hand to see the auction,’’ she said.
AWN Victorian manager Kelvin Shelley thanked Endeavour Wool, one of the nation’s biggest exporters of Australian wool and the successful purchaser of the two charity bales in Melbourne.
“We have received strong support from exporters wanting to support the RFDS as they understand how close to our hearts this charity really is and how it helps our clients throughout Australia,’’ he said.
The 17.8-micron MF4S offering reached 1200c realising $3024 for the RFDS.
AWN Western Australia wool and livestock manager Greg Tilbrook said there was good support in the auction room in Fremantle with bidding reaching 1121c/kg greasy.
“We offered a bale from our Bin 100 rehandle, which is finer wool samples specially collected during the past 12 months. We were very pleased with the price achieved for the 16.2-micron wool which measured 78mm as this was $1.20 above market value,’’ he said.
“The successful buyer was Zena Wrexam from Tianyu, major buyers on the day. The bale fetched close to $2000 and after we reimbursed the testing and selling fees, we made a total donation of $2000 to the RFDS.
“As a business we are more than happy to support a charity which supports our clients and people throughout our state and, in fact, throughout the country.’’
Western Australian-based Dyson Jones raised $3771.85 to boost this year’s total to more than $13,000.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern Section (RFDSSE) has a long association with AWN.
“Over 20 years, these bale auctions have raised money to support vital health care services to people living and travelling through regional, rural, and remote NSW,’’ RFDSSE Chief Executive Officer Greg Sam said.
“We cannot emphasise how important these fundraising events are. One-third of our funding comes from the generosity of donors and partners like AWN. This is a significant contribution towards improving accessibility to services and improved health outcomes where they are most needed. Every dollar really does count.”
