Gone! Police auction to end

Detective Sergeant Pete Blackwell has announced the end of the Tauranga Police CIB Charity Auction. Photo / Andrew Warner

The Bay's flagship fundraising event has raised almost $2million for the community in almost two decades but the organisers say this year's annual charity auction will be the last.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Tauranga Police CIB Charity Auction and the organisers have decided to call time after the final auction at ASB Arena at BayPark on October 17.

Event organiser Detective Sergeant Pete Blackwell said he and the rest of the small organising team had talked about calling time for the past couple of years.

Mr Blackwell said thousands and thousands of hours had gone into making the charity auction the sellout success it had become over the years, with "amazing support" of thousands of New Zealanders who generously donated goods and services each year.

"It seems we've become the victim of our own success. We created our own monster, and a very good monster this is, but it takes a huge amount of energy and time to continue to organise such a mammoth event and consumes heaps of family time.

"When we started out almost 20 years ago we never had any idea it would grow to such a magnificent event. Four years ago we hit the $1 million mark and four years later we're set to smash $2 million. But we always said we wanted to go out at the top of our game," Mr Blackwell said.

One of the original founders, Mr Blackwell said calling time was a hard decision as he had invested a huge chunk of his life helping organise the event.

"We're immensely proud of what we've achieved over the last 20 years but it's definitely time to go."

Since its humble start in 1995 when a bunch of police detectives gathered at Bureta Park and raised $200, the funds raised have increased each year with last year's event raising $282,000.

The guest list now reads like a "who's who" of this country's sporting legends, many who continue to be huge supporters of the event, he said.

More than 40 charities had benefited from the fundraiser.

Last year Tauranga Coastguard was one of the major recipients and bought a new amphibious rescue boat for $250,000, thanks in part to the auction's $80,000 donation.

Tauranga Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker said it was "very sad" that this would be the last auction.

"It's a real shame but totally understandable. It takes a huge amount of work and the organisers, especially Pete, have done a tremendous job over the years. They have contributed so much to this community and made a huge difference to thousands of people's lives."

Mr Blackwell was named the Bay of Plenty Times Person of the Year in 2011.

Foundation for Youth Development Tauranga also received $80,000 last year.

Its regional programme manager, Dan Allen-Gordon, said he was really surprised because the police charity "does so much for this community".

"The funds we received last year helped us expand our Kiwi Can programmes to 10 schools and we are now able to run two Project K programmes. It has made a huge difference to us, and for many organisations, even receiving a small amount of money, helped them to survive," he said.

Local charities are invited to submit their applications for funding from the proceeds of the 2014 charity luncheon by June 30. For information email info@taurangapolice.charity. co.nz.

History of police charity auction

*The event was launched 1995
*Money raised in 1995: $200
*Money raised in 2013: $280,000
*Total money raised so far: $1.9 million
*Number of charities to have benefited: 40