Waikato Business News August/September 2018

36 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS August/September 2018
CONFERENCE, EVENTS AND VENUES
Magic dresses
auctioned off for
good cause
Hobbiton Movie Set and Waikato/Bay
of Plenty Magic have auctioned off a
range of Hobbiton Magic merchandise,
including three of the player’s one-of-akind
Hobbiton themed dresses, at the
WBOP Magic’s End of Season event on
Wednesday night at SkyCity Hamilton.
The dresses, worn and
signed by Casey Kopua,
Samantha Sinclair and
Lenize Potgieter during the
Hobbiton Movie Set themed
Magic vs Mystics match on
27 June this year, a special
team dress signed by the whole
squad, a signed team poster,
and a family pass to experience
Hobbiton, all went for a
combined total of $17,700 at
the event.
The funds from the sale of
Casey’s dress, which went for
$12,000 at the auction, will
go to the Tania Dalton Foundation,
while the funds from
the other items will go to the
newly formed Hobbiton Foundation,
Hobbiton Movie Set’s
new community good initiative,
which gives back to worthy
causes that meet a series of
selection criteria as determined
by a committee.
Currently, Hobbiton supports
a range of events and
causes with complimentary
passes and sponsorship, totaling
over $100,000 of value
per year, with additional initiatives
such as the bus donation
to Walton School in August
2017 and the fundraising event
for local boy Brayden ‘Larry’
Coates in September 2017.
The new Hobbiton Foundation
is a way of formalising
this process and providing
access to much needed funding
and support for deserving
charities, clubs, schools and
other worthy causes. Hobbiton
Movie Set will be launching
The Hobbiton Foundation
towards the end of 2018, with
further information to come.