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| AN auction of celebrity items for a North-East hospice has raised at least £7,000. Billy and Jenny Ellwood, of Consett, County Durham, whose 17-year-old son Andrew has cerebral palsy, held the event at St James' Park, Newcastle on Friday to raise money for St Oswald's Hospice, Gosforth. Andrew, whose condition is terminal, has received treatment and care in the hospice's children's unit, which will receive the proceeds towards its running costs. Forty-eight items were donated including a cricket bat signed by the England cricket team, a shirt signed by the Newcastle Falcons rugby team, a signed Newcastle United FC shirt and DVDs signed by Ant and Dec, Orlando Bloom and Jonny Wilkinson. There was also a work by artist Alison J Best, of Tanfield Lea, County Durham. Former Newcastle United and England football star Peter Beardsley was the compere. Mrs Ellwood said: "It went really well. I am not sure exactly how much we have raised but I think we had at least £7,000, which is fantastic. "The biggest selling was a signed first edition of the Harry Potter book The Half Blood Prince. It was signed by J K Rowling.'' Mrs Ellwood added that the raffle alone raised £670 and that the event had raised far more than she thought it would. |