New Zealanders smash fundraising target for bushfire relief

A fundraising target of $5,000 has been smashed by New Zealanders wanting to support Australians as they face devastating bushfires.

The Auctions4Aussie and Variety4Fireys initiative has ended with more than $35,000 raised for the Red Cross Australia Bushfire appeal.

Auctions featuring John Campbell, Leigh Hart, Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan, Grant Robertson, Michelle Langstone, Scotty and Stacey Morrison and many many more raised $28,311.37.

The Variety4Fireys event held at Meow on Edward Street in Wellington featuring Dame Fiona Kidman, Ashleigh Young, Pip Adam, French for Rabbits, Melanie Bracewell, Chris Tse, Brannavan Gnanalingam, Susie Ferguson and more than 23 other acts.

Award-winning poet Chris Tse and author Emily Writes hosted the event. “We’re extremely grateful for everyone who offered up their time for our variety show. It’s an incredible and very unique line-up of talented and wonderful people. So many of us have wanted to do something tangible to assist our Australia whānau, and this is our way of contributing to a good cause,” says Chris.

Ticket sales for the event raised $5,110 and a raffle including prize packs from Adulttoymegastore, Penguin Random House books, Martinborough Hotel and more than 20 local businesses raised $1,540.

Garage Project and Parrot Dog also donated kegs and the proceeds from their sale will be added to the final tally.

Auctions offered and how much they raised:

• A visit to Shortland Street with Bella Cooper and Dr Harper Whitley $930

• Te Reo lessons with Scotty and Stacey Morrison $1010

• A dinner party with Kanoa Lloyd and Jesse Mulligan $3,115

• John Campbell taking you to a gig $3,001

• Brunch with The Edge personalities and tickets to Jim Beam Homegrown $117

• A Beehive Making Workshop with Tami Neilson $246

• The chance to watch Westside being filmed with the stars of the show $3770

• A cameo on Leigh Hart’s show Late Night Big Breakfast $3,290

• A shopping spree at Augustine with personal styling from owner and designer Kelly Coe $3000

• You could win Jay-Jay Feeney’s voice $222

• A dance lesson with Mike McRoberts $295

• Seeing the Chiefs vs Blues game in a corporate box with James McOnie $605

• Tickets to Michele A'Court & Jeremy Elwood's show and drinks with them afterwards $250

• Courtside at the Breakers game with Mel Bracewell $700

• Four tickets to see Michele A’Court and Jeremy Elwood’s Dunedin Fringe show and drinks with them afterward

• Front row tickets to Ben Hurley's newest show $406

• Attend a Have You Been Paying Attention screening with Urzila Carlson $210

• A tour of Australasia’s largest sex toy warehouse with author Emily Writes $1,121

• Dinner and a tour of Parliament with Grant Robertson $2,010.36

• Two nights in Queenstown with author Jane Bloomfield at her ranch $599

• A performance coaching session with House of Drag winner Hugo Grrrl $186

• A social media mentorship and masterclass with Cassie Roma and others for a business or individual $755

• A wardrobe overhaul and personal styling session with Sisterhood of Style $350

• A topless waiter for your next party $115

• A night's entertainment or team building with Locomotive Improv Theatre Training $120

• An overnight stay in a yurt with blogger Lucy and her family of Lulastic $330

• A night at the theatre package with Circa $225

• A tattoo with Capilli Tupou $280

• Private Wine Tasting with Jules van Castello $425

Line up for Variety For Fireys

• Dame Fiona Kidman - one of our most beloved writers. Her most recent novel This Mortal Boy won the 2019 Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

• Jim Stanton - comedian and very excellent wedding celebrant. Her show Try Hard is in the Wellington Fringe Festival in March.

• Nadine Hura - a writer of creative non-fiction and poetry and is currently working on a manuscript of essays for publication as part of Te Papa Tupu and the Māori Literature Trust.

• Sinead Overbye - an exciting emerging writer and research assistant originally from Gisborne. Her work can be found in Starling, Turbine, Radio NZ and other places.

• Melanie Bracewell - RAW Comedy Quest winner and a Billy T Award winner

• Brannavan Gnanalingam - writer and practising lawyer. His novel Sodden Downstream was finalist at the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

• Daniel McClelland - a multi-instrumentalist musician whose self-recorded album Anxious Heart was a finalist for the 2018 Auckland Live Best Independent Debut award. His new EP Swallow Fear is out now.

• Miachaela Keeble - pioneering a new genre in Australian writing, poet, writer, genius.

• Jarrod Baker - writer, comedian, singer and voice actor.

• Freya Daly Sadgrove - a poet and theatre-maker, and her highly anticipated debut poetry collection Head Girl is out in February from Victoria University Press.

• Little Box Band - Usually 'The Wooden Box Band' they write songs for Aotearoa’s landscape and its people. The Appalachian Mountains and Southern Alps are heard in tales of Blue-collar Petone, Janet Frame’s Oamaru and the Waimakariki River.

• Simon Sweetman - writer and the host of the weekly interview show, Sweetman Podcast. He wrote an excellent book about NZ music called On Song and his first book of poetry is due out later this year.

• Pip Adam - Pip Adam writes fiction. Her novel The New Animals won the 2018 Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize and her new novel Nothing to See comes out this year.

• Ashleigh Young is a writer and editor and her latest book is a collection of poems called How I Get Ready.

• Bombay Bombshell - a Draglesque icon from the Haus of Sin!

• Karen O'Leary - Officer O’Leary in What We Do In The Shadows and Wellington Paranormal. She’s currently recording an album of songs for children.

• Cori Gonzalez-Macuer - an award-winning comedian and actor. He’s a regular on 7 Days and starred in What We Do In The Shadows.

• Gem Wilder - a writer, mother, DJ, dancer and arts lover. Her writing has appeared in Turbine, The Sapling and The Spinoff.

• Anahera Gildea - poet, essayist, short story writer, and 'artivist'. She’s been widely published in journals and anthologies and her first book "Poroporoaki to the Lord my God" was published by Seraph Press in 2016.

• Sera Devcich - You might have seen Sera Devcich on 7 Days and The Project. She is incredible and has performed across the country most recently opening for Ben Hurley on his nationwide tour. Sera was nominated for best female comic at the NZ comedy guild awards and is one to watch.

• Susie Ferguson – Beloved newsreader at Radio NZ and all round incredible journalist.

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