A CHARITY has set up a celebrity auction with sports stars offering incredible prizes in a drive to help reunite orphan's with family members.
Hope and Homes for Children is based in The Guild in Wilton and its Home Advantage auction is a way to inspire people to bid generously while having the opportunity to gain an exclusive experience.
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The charity works to reunite children living in orphanages with relatives. When that is not possible, it trains social workers to find families to foster or adopt, giving children the home advantage they need to fulfil their potential.
Charity spokesperson Wayne Cornish said: "There are 5.4 million children in orphanages. We try to close down orphanages and reunite children with family members. Children can be taken from their families for many things including disabilities or the mother not being able to breastfeed.
"We worked with Romania where there were 100,000 children in orphanages but now there are only 2,000. We know that children do better when there is a home advantage."
Many of the children in orphanages suffer abuse and sexual violence and eight out of 10 children are not actually orphans but have living families who could care for them at home.
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Many celebrity sports people are participating and the charity auction prizes include playing 18 holes of golf with two friends and England goalkeeping legend David Seaman MBE or going ringside and behind the scenes at Sky Sports Boxing with former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson MBE.
There's also a chance to enjoy a beer backstage with The Good, the Bad and The Rugby podcast with Mike Tindall, James Haskell and Alex Payne and fitness enthusiasts have a chance of winning a five night stay at a brand new five star wellness resort in Turkey.
Olympic legends Paula Radcliffe, Denise Lewis, Daley Thompson, Colin Jackson and Jamie Baulch will put the winners through their paces.
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Ex-England Rugby skipper Will Carling who is taking a lucky bidder for dinner at Tom Kerridge's restaurant with Mike Tindall, said: “Just as sportspeople do better with a home advantage, so do children.
“No child should be confined to an orphanage, deprived of the advantages of home, family and love. So get bidding in the #HomeAdvantage charity auction to help give a child the home advantage of a family this Christmas.”
The Home Advantage eBay auction closes on Sunday, December 10 at 3pm.
To bid on any of the exclusive prizes, go to the Hope and Homes for Children Auction on ebay.co.uk
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