ONCE again Mary Phillips of St Teath has raised thousands of pounds for Devon and Cornwall Air Ambulance at her recent charity auction event held at Trethorne Leisure Park.

She raised £2,800 following the auction of 150 lots and a huge raffle on Saturday, September 29, compered by Kivells auctioneer James Morrish. This brings her total earnings to well above £80,000 over the past eight years of holding the event — but Mary has no plans to stop anytime soon. She said: “This is the eighth time I’ve held this event. I’ve done it for the last eight years.

“It is a bit stressful, there is just so much to do and I like to do things by myself because a committee can often let you down and not always do it the way you want, so it’s easier for me to do it myself — that way I only have myself to blame if something goes wrong.”

However, once again things went without a hitch and Mary has had calls for another event next year. She said: “I say ‘this will be my last one’ every year and was planning for this to be my last but I have had two or three calls already asking me to hold it again so I probably will — of course, that’s if I’m still here!”

Mary explained: “The way I see it, you’ve got to do what you can when you can and enjoy it.”

May added: “I really can’t thank enough everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable evening. Also thanks to James Morrish for the absolutely brilliant job he did auctioneering. It is the second time he has done it and he really made the night!”