Ed Sheeran's father helps raise over £40,000 for two Suffolk charities at Elveden Hall auction
The father of a Suffolk superstar helped raise over £40,000 at an auction with all proceeds going towards two local charities.
‘My Life in Art’ presented by John Sheeran, father of Ed Sheeran, was held at Elveden Hall on the private estate of Lord Iveagh, Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh, on Saturday, September 24.
The historic location hosted 160 guests, and helped raise £40,034.55, with funds going towards charities, GeeWizz Charitable Foundation and Castle Community Rooms in Framlingham.
At the auction, the highest bids included: a special driving experience with Porsche at Silverstone; VIP five-star Hospitality tickets to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium; a limited-edition Banksy print published by Time Out in March 2010; and an exclusive guided tour of Elveden Hall delivered by Lord Iveagh.
Mr Sheeran said: “I was so delighted to deliver the lecture ‘My Life in Art’ in aid of two Suffolk-based charities that mean so much to my wife, Imogen and me.
"Being able to give my lecture in the Marble Hall, in all its exotic splendour, was a real treat for me.
"I feel blessed to have had a working life so full of interest, challenge and excitement, and to be able to share this with the invited guests in such a magnificent, historic house.”
GeeWizz Charitable Foundation support children and young adults, across Suffolk and Norfolk, who are learning disabled or neurodivergent, have a life-limiting illness or cancer. Their focus is to provide much needed specialist equipment to help improve their lives.
Proceeds from the event will also help enable Castle Community Rooms to furnish its new sustainable building at the heart of the community, for use by playschools, retirement groups, for sports, exhibitions, and parties.
Gina Long MBE, founder of GeeWizz Charitable Foundation, said: “I cannot begin to say how very grateful we all are to Lord Iveagh, John and Imogen Sheeran for their invaluable and most active personal support. The Marble Hall at Elveden Estate is so very rarely used for private events.
"We are incredibly grateful to Lord Iveagh for gifting us this very prestigious venue and remarkable opportunity to host what was a fantastic fundraising evening at Elveden, in the astounding Marble Hall, which has been likened to a Taj Mahal magically transported to the cold heartlands of Suffolk. We are also indebted to John Sheeran for sharing his My Life in Art, in these challenging and uncertain times.
"Both beneficiary charities will be able to support life-changing legacy projects to enrich local lives. This has to be the greatest result of all.”
Elveden Hall was also the location of filming for the Netflix spy thriller Heart of Stone in May.
The film stars Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan and will be released next year.