Jamie Baulch, credit Joe Alvarez
An exciting new and free fundraising resource for charities went live last night when Cardiff based BidAid was launched by its co-founder, Olympic silver medallist and double world champion athlete Jamie Baulch.
BidAid.org is a new and secure online auction site where premium memorabilia items and experiences can only be uploaded and sold by registered charities or and their celebrity ambassadors, patrons and sponsors.
The Welsh sporting legend was delighted that representatives of so many charities were able to attend the UK launch including Macmillan Cancer, Prostate Cancer UK, Stonewall, Alzheimer’s Society, British Red Cross, Lord’s Taverners and Barnardo’s because having been involved with memorabilia for a number of years he is passionate about ensuring that authentic and unique items raise the maximum amount of funds for the good causes they’ve been donated to.
“One of the key elements of Bid Aid is that we want to guarantee buyers that anything they purchase from our site is 100% genuine because we believe there are large numbers of fake items, autographs and memorabilia being offered for sale elsewhere.
We’ll require all items that are offered for sale to be accompanied by a letter or certificate of authentication from the original or a reputable source as we know how important these purchase are to those who buy them”
Jamie was joined at the Club at the Ivy in London by a large group of charity ambassadors and patrons including the Royal Ballet’s Colombian star Fernando Montano, athletic world champions Colin Jackson and Derek Redmond, Olympic silver medallists Leon Taylor and Michael Jamieson, Eastenders actor Dean Gaffney, winner of the 2014 series of the Apprentice Mark Wright and Scottish Rugby Union star Craig Chalmers.
Fernando Montano, Jane Winehouse, Jamie Baulch, Dominic Ruffey credit Joe Alvarez
BBC TV presenter and former 110m world record holder Colin Jackson was very pleased to be supporting his close friend and fellow Welshman at the launch.
“I’m amazed that no-one has thought of this before and think that Jamie and his co-founder Leon Hughes have come up with a terrific concept. I’m involved with a number of charities and know they often get donated amazing items but don’t always have an event where they can sell or auction them to raise funds.
BidAid will now enable them to do that and also enable all the celebrity supporters to use their own social media to promote the items they are selling on behalf of the projects that mean a lot to them.”
As part of the launch event Jamie took part in a special Q&A session with a fellow world champion athlete and supporter of BidAid, Derek Redmond. He explained to the guests how the new site works and also took questions from the charities and their sponsors as well as asking some of the guests for their thoughts on charity auctions and memorabilia.
The Royal Ballet’s Fernando Montano is an active supporter of a number of charities including The Amy Winehouse Foundation and Children Change Colombia and he is especially excited about the opportunities for smaller organisations.
“I know that not all charities have big dinners where they can raise funds with auctions so it is wonderful to have a new site like BidAid where I can perhaps offer special dance lessons or a role in my new film and then publicise that on behalf of the charities I support and I’ll be encouraging my fellow dancers around the world to get involved as well”
Among the supporters of the launch were the boutique hotel Malmaison London who said “we are delighted to have been given the opportunity by Jamie to sponsor this occasion. What a fantastic idea BidAid is, and Jamie is just the enthusiastic and passionate person to be leading the launch”
