Gareth Edwards Grogg raises £4000 for charity

A rare Grogg of Gareth Edwards was auctioned for £4000 at a charity dinner held last night (Friday 31 August) in the Coal Exchange in Cardiff.  The owner of the famous World of Groggs shop, John Hughes, donated one of only two Groggs that he made of Edwards wearing a British Lion shirt to commemorate his Lions tour wins in 1971 and 1974 to the tribute dinner organised by the Welsh Charitables RFC. The second Grogg is owned by the world famous scrum half himself.

Ex-stars David Watkins, John Dawes, and Clive Rowlands stood up and paid tribute to Gareth Edwards who was sat at the top table with his wife, Maureen.
David Power, secretary of the Welsh Charitables RFC, said: 'The atmosphere in the room during the Grogg auction was fantastic. Everyone knew how amazing it would be to own this rare piece of memorabilia. The fact that the only other Grogg of its kind is owned by Gareth made it even more special.  It was a great fun night and I'd like to thank all the guests for their generosity and the many ex-players for coming along to pay tribute to him.'

During the auction Wales' 2002 Commonwealth Games Gold medal winning boxer Jamie Arthur paid £1000 for a Barbarians shirt signed by the seven players involved in the move that led to Edwards scoring 'that' try against New Zealand in 1973.
A set of framed golden boots which were modelled on Edwards's boots were sold for £1800. A signed shirt of the current Welsh squad sold for £900.

Some of the stars among the 460 people in the audience included Cliff Morgan, Bleddyn Williams, Jack Matthews, John Perkins, Bryn Meredith, JPR Williams, Graham Price, Tony Faulkner, Dai Morris, Brian Price, Barry John, Stuart Watkins, Keith Jarrett, Derek Quinnell, Tom David, Steve Fenwick and Ike Stephens.

All of the money raised on the night will go to into the 'We Want a Million' trust fund which has been set up for the Welsh Charitables nominated charities, St Anne's Hospice, St David's Foundation Hospice Care, Ty Hafan The Children's Hospice in Wales, The Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust and WREX The Welsh Rugby Former International Players Association.

The 2008 event will be a tribute dinner to honour Barry John.