PRESS RELEASE

Auction LIVE on eBAY Thursday 4th - Sunday 14th September

This auction, of items donated by celebrities, will raise much-needed funds for Anno's Africa, a charity running educational arts projects for slum children and AIDS orphans in Nairobi.

FULL INFO - www.annosafrica.org.uk

TAKE A LOOK AT OUR TWO AMAZING CATALOGUES:

LOTS 1 - 20

LOTS 21 - 54

SEE THE FULL LIST ON EBAY HERE

JANE BIRKIN has donated and signed her own personal HERMÈS BIRKIN BAG

MILLA JOVOVICH has signed her own label chiffon dress that she wore at Cannes

LANA DEL REY has signed a stunning vintage dress from her recent American Tour

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH has signed his personal suit from the SHERLOCK tailors - Spencer Hart

MATT LEBLANC has donated his black leather jacket from EPISODES

SIR ELTON JOHN has signed his Gucci trainers and his Versace sunglasses

DAME JUDI DENCH has donated her jacket as 'M' from the Bond movie
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

DANIEL CRAIG has signed his Bond shirt from SKYFALL

JOANNA LUMLEY has donated a signed scarf and her crew jacket from
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

DAVID TENNANT has signed his script from hit ITV drama BROADCHURCH

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG has signed her Balenciaga City bag

TOM HANKS has signed his CLOUD ATLAS crew Jacket

RUBY WAX has signed and framed a pair of her frilly knickers

We also have wonderful donations from stars including STEPHEN FRY, ALAN RICKMAN, TWIGGY, SIR IAN HOLM, BRUCE ROBINSON, HAYLEY MILLS, ROBERT POWELL, SIMON AMSTELL, STEPHEN FREARS, LUKE PASQUALINO, NICHOLAS HOULT, LESLEY JOSEPH, TREVOR EVE, NEIL MORRISSEY....and donations keep coming.....

TWITTER INTEREST IS ALREADY ABLAZE !!

Follow Anno's Africa twitter feed for live links to the auction

TWITTER - @Annos_Africa

For further press information contact

EMMA FROST - emmafrostlondon@btinternet.com
BEE GILBERT - beegilbert@hotmail.com
SARAH HAMILTON - slhprints@aol.com

ANNO'S AFRICA, a charity that offers an alternative arts education to orphans and vulnerable children in Africa’s city slums, was set up in memory of Anno Birkin, a gifted writer and musician who died in a car crash in 2001, one month short of his 21st birthday. His parents wanted underprivileged children in the world's poorest slums to enjoy some of the creative opportunities that gave Anno such joy, so every year the charity provides an eight-week programme of workshops in the Nairobi slums of Kibera and Mathare, covering art, drama, music, dance, creative writing and circus skills.

ANNO'S AFRICA also provides, in conjunction with their German partner organization, One Fine Day, weekly Saturday arts clubs run by Kenyan artists and performers who have participated in the programme. The charity reaches over 700 children a year, enabling them to explore their own potential and providing access to the transformative power of creativity that should be every child’s right. The charity also offers teacher training to local artists and is about to launch a new project for older teenagers called Workshops to Work, which will engage with school leavers and street children. The staff of the London-based charity are all volunteers and every penny raised goes directly to the slum children’s programme.

EDITOR'S NOTES

ANNO BIRKIN was the son of photographer Bee Gilbert and screenwriter/director Andrew Birkin (brother of Jane). The charity enjoys the support of an exceptional group of people because of the family’s own highly creative network, as well as the personal charm and talent of Anno who touched so many people’s lives with his poetry and music. Benedict Cumberbatch is a close friend of Anno’s brother, David; Charlotte Gainsbourg was Anno’s first cousin; and Bruce Robinson, (Withnail and I), wrote the introduction to the book of Anno's poems, "Who Said the Race is Over". There is now a CD of this book with poems recited by many of the celebrities above, including Cumberbatch, which is flying off the shelves as auction excitement builds.

Interviews can be arranged

For further press information contact

EMMA FROST - emmafrostlondon@btinternet.com
BEE GILBERT - beegilbert@hotmail.com
SARAH HAMILTON - slhprints@aol.com

Director of ANNO'S AFRICA: Bee GIbert
Trustees:
Andrew Birkin, Allan Corduner, Emma Frost, Owen Lewis, Hayley Mills, Deepak Nambisan, Louise Norman, Anna Nygh, Sarah Radclyffe, Karen Rose and Ian Warwick
Design/Social Media Consultant: Sarah Hamilton