As part of Plusnet’s ongoing commitment to support the Alzheimer’s Society we have approached businesses for prizes to raffle or auction off to help raise our target of funds. Many local & national businesses have given some fantastic prizes for us to raffle or auction off internally, however National Australia Bank have been wonderfully generous and donated two cricket bats which have been signed by not one but two of the current England Cricket Team – Paul Collingwood & Alastair Cook. We've also been lucky enough to be given a third bat from the Bangladesh v England tour in 2010, signed by the whole team and certified as such, along with a collection of items signed by Yorkshire's own Darren Gough. We therefore felt it selfish to keep these to ourselves so wanted to offer you the opportunity as ever to get involved with what we do and our fundraising efforts. We have put a starting price on the bats as we are keen that we can raise as much for the Alzheimer’s society as possible. Resident blogger Joanne Pilson will be collecting your bids and updating this blog daily with the current highest bid for each item so you can keep up to date. We will start bids at £30 each and go up from there. For the same reason we'd like to set the starter price for the shirt signed by Darren Gough at £20, and £10 each for the miniature cricket bats and match balls also signed by Darren. Details of how to bid can be found at the bottom of this post, following photos of the items we have for sale. Thanks as ever for your support with this. Here is Bat 1, signed by the England team from the Bangladesh v England tour 2010: 
The official certificate of authenticity for the above bat: 
Bat 2, signed by Paul Collingwood: 
Bat 3, signed by Alastair Cook: 
The England team shirt, signed by Darren Gough: 
We'd like to thank our CEO, Jamie Ford, for kindly modelling the auction items. There's one more to go though; two small cricket bats and three match balls also signed by Darren Gough: 
As there's more than one of each the two highest bidders for the small bats will each win one, and the three highest bidders for the cricket balls will likewise win one each. The items will be auctioned as follows:
- Bat 1: The cricket bat from the England v Bangladesh tour 2010, signed by the England team
- Bat 2: The Slazenger cricket bat signed by Paul Collingwood
- Bat 3: The Gray-Nicolls cricket bat signed by Alastair Cook
- Shirt: The England team cricket shirt signed by Darren Gough
- Mini Bat: Either of the two miniature bats signed by Darren Gough (the two highest bidders will each win one of these)
- Ball: One of the three cricket balls signed by Darren Gough (the three highest bidders will each win one of these)
You can find out how to place your bids and see the terms and conditions for the charity auction here. You don't need to be a forum member to see the post, and bids will be accepted by email so anyone (even non-Plusnet customers) can enter. Please be generous, this is for a good cause (every penny earned from this auction will go to the Alzheimer's charity). Thank you very much for your interest and of course good luck.