Proud supporters of the Elders Gippsland charity wool sale.

WOOL buyers paid double commercial value to help raise more than $13,000 for Air Ambulance equipment in an Elders charity auction in Melbourne yesterday.

Before selling the 333 kilograms of wool donated by Gippsland growers, Elders district wool manager and auctioneer Mal Nicholls spoke of the “absolute need” for the Air Ambulance service, particularly in the more remote parts of our area. He said the unfortunate reality is that many Gippsland families have had to make use of the service.

“The depth of feeling in the attending crowd was very evident as many had been impacted themselves.

“The wool buyers again were very receptive to this cause and once the bidding commenced, bid freely to a figure of 4000 cents per kg which was over double its real commercial value.”

Mr Nicholls said he had much pleasure in accepting the winning bid from Lou Morsch of G. Modiano Ltd who have purchased the charity wool for three consecutive years.

“This sale made a total of $13,160, which is a tremendous result.”

Mr Nicholls said the support of Modiano has been amazing and is very much appreciated by all those involved in this cause.

He said Geoff Pollard from the Helimed Auxiliary has followed this donation through by firstly attending the Omeo show where the wool was displayed right through to assisting with the organisation of the bus trip to the sale. Omeo Show committee member and wool classer Belinda Smith also played a key role in organising the wool and the 39 people who travelled by bus from Bairnsdale to the National Wool Selling Centre to view to support the sale.

“This is the third year that this has been done and the AA helicopters now carry ultra sound equipment that has been purchased as a result of this fund raising.

“The paramedics speak about how many lives this has assisted in saving and very much they appreciate our support,” Mr Nicholls said.

A raffle during the bus trip, supported by the Bruthen Hotel, Buchan Hotel, The Golden Age Hotel and the Bairnsdale Town Central Motel raised $300.25.

Elders Mal Nicholls, centre, with his father Ian Nicholls, left, and John Jackson, red gum gavel maker, with the donated wool.

Mr Nicholls said Elders at Bairnsdale also supported the fundraiser by organising and financing the trip to Melbourne to the sale, which included a guest speaker from the Australian Merino Exporters (Andrew Worthington), a tour of the AWH facility and also of the Victoria Valley Abattoir at Trafalgar on the way home.

“Several of those who attended on the day also sold their annual wool clip into a market that had the best results that they have experienced,” Mr Nicholls said.

The sale of the wool was filmed live by Elders wool technical officer Samantha Wan and is available on the following links.

https://www.facebook.com/EldersRuralServices/

https://www.facebook.com/EldersRuralServices/videos/1839623222749080/

https://www.facebook.com/EldersRuralServices/videos/1839627889415280/