SAVE Art - Art in aid of the SAVE Foundation's wildlife work in Zimbabwe, in Perth between 3rd and 7th of September 2011, with the opening night on the 2nd.

In Sydney: The SAVE FOUNDATION of NSW extraordinary event
18 February 2011, Doltone House, Darling Harbour

There has been nothing but good feedback from our Sydney fundraising dinner on 30 November at Doltone House, and all had a lovely time. And thanks for all coming along and supporting the rhinos. But mostly, our very special thanks to David for being the catalyst that brought this all together - he has been so good to us ever since our first event in Perth back in 1991.

Here are comments and acknowledgements about the evening;

1. Before we even started we had very kind donations from David Griffith, Goldman Sachs, Syd Chipchase and Leo Muggleton, and these ensured that all costs and overheads were covered – thanks so much!

2. On the night, one of our long standing members, Karin Keighley, made the most generous donation of $5,000 to her beloved rhinos and followed this up by buying the safari and gifting it to her guests on her table – so very kind of you, Karin.

3. Shaun Smith, one of our few NSW members and who was the backbone of making things happen for this dinner, very kindly donated the beers and one of the picture frames – you’re a gem.

4. Leaping Lizard wines, part of the Ferngrove Group, supplied the wines at a very reasonable rate- thank you.

5. We were very happy with all the support and effort we received from Doltone House and thought that the meal was delicious and all their staff were most obliging.

6. Thanks to one of our other patrons, Bryce Courtenay, for donating an array of his best selling books for the auction.

7. Thanks to those of you who became members on the night. We believe that we made a strong enough case to convince you of the great work we are doing in Zimbabwe. Please join using a membership form for you to enroll, with your membership being extended through till April 2012.

8. We acknowledge the role played by Simon Reeve of the Sunrise programme, both as MC on the night and also with his short documentary on rhino dehorning, played in the background through dinner.
   If anyone is interested in going on our next behind the scenes Committee trip, including dehorning and other projects, in late May/early June, then please contact me ASAP by email or 0417 937655. Thanks.

9. Now for the results! Thanks to the sponsorships our ticket sales made a slight profit, the auction grossed $34,175, framing was just under $4,000, all memorabilia items were donated, as was the safari, and we ended up with a lovely $39,000 profit to buy more vital goods for Zimbabwe. Thank you one and all!!

In Perth: Ashes Test Dinner with David Gower
15 December 2010 at the Perth Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom

We had a most enjoyable dinner with David Gower on Wednesday 15 December. He was very entertaining and what a great night the Hyatt organization supplied us! Here is a brief report.

1. Profits from the ticket sales, thanks to the support of Leaping Lizard and Gage Roads Brewing, just about covered the memorabilia framing costs of Angelo (Annalice Framing, 9201 1166).

2. The main auction brought in $100,505. Because the memorabilia had been donated and the framing costs were covered, this was all profit!

3. The silent auction yielded a further $11,000, all profit.

4. A few further sales and donations have raised another $8,000 plus.

5. So that’s just about $120,000 – what a fantastic effort and thanks to you all!!

6. Thanks, also, to all our helpers who made this happen.

7. If you are impressed by what we do, then please enrol as a member – only $35pa and we’ll extend your membership through to April 2012 – please see attached form.

8. We would like to think that Nicholas Duncan's pledge to donate at least $200,000pa for ever more may inspire more like-minded wildlife lovers to also make available some extra funds, please? Donations to the SAVE FOUNDATION are 100% tax deductible and there is a section on the membership form where you can make your gift – any amount is very helpful, please, and will be wisely and responsibly spent as we see fit. Thank you

"An Evening with Mark Nicholas", held on 15 December 2009 in the Grand Ballroom of the Perth Hyatt Regency.  The well-known Channel Nine cricket commentator, and a former county cricket pro who scored more than 25,000 runs as an attacking middle order batsman for Hampshire from 1978-1995, and captained his county to many successes for more than 10 years, entertained a capacity crowd of over 350 people with reminiscences of the great sport.  All present also enjoyed a three-course dinner, with beer from Coopers, wine from Sandalford Wines, and soft drinks.  The sponsorship of Perth Audio Visual is also gratefully acknowledged.  Finally a plethora of sporting and musical memorabilia (Australian cricket teams, Bradman, Tiger Woods, Elvis, Michael Jackson, U2 and other notables), African artefacts, paintings, an African safari, and other items were auctioned, and a grand total of about AUD 120,000 was raised on the night.

All funds will be used for our ongoing programmes of anti-poaching units, tracking equipment, field kit and other necessities. In the last 18 months, 130 out of 700 rhinos have been killed in Zimbabwe and we are increasing our programmes there to slow this down.

Thanks once again to all the participants, the sponsors, the volunteers who contributed to making this night another success for the SAVE FOUNDATION - and of course, thanks to our charismatic speaker Mark Nicholas!

The 2009 SAVE FOUNDATION NSW Black Tie Ball was held on Saturday 5th September 2009, in Sydney, NSW.  It was our most successful to date, and raised $38,000. The occasion was to celebrate 20 years of fundraising in NSW.

The Black Tie Ball was held at the Hunters Hill Sailing Club for 180 guests. Guests enjoyed a wonderful three course sit down dinner, South African wines, and danced the night away to a great DJ. Author Tony Park, gave us a fascinating insight into his life in the African bush. He spends 6 months of every year in Southern Africa together with his wife, researching and writing novels set in Africa, whilst also taking part in annual wildlife census counts.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo presented a short DVD outlining the progress made since the inception of their rhino captive breeding programme in Dubbo 15 years ago.

The Live and Silent Auctions raised a total of $22,000. The 11 day safari, kindly donated by African Wildlife Safaris and Wilderness Safaris, raised $12,000.

VIP Guests included the Botswana High Commission's First Secretary Mr Mokoto, who flew up specially from Canberra for the event, and Mr Matthew Fuller, General Manager of Taronga Western Plains Zoo, who made the trip from Dubbo together with a group of rhino keepers.

Funds from the night will go towards much needed equipment for the Mombo Rhino Trust in the Okavango Delta, where white rhino have been successfully breeding since their reintroduction into Botswana in 2001.

(click on photo above to enlarge or here to see more photos of the event)

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(8th November 2008)

After a week of frantic bidding to name Lady's new baby, it is Bev Poor and Alan Thomson whose bid of A$ 1,500 won, and the little female "L"ephant will be called "Lantana".  At the same time, Yvonne and Bob Piachniarski generously pledged the same amount to take a recently orphaned rhino calf under their wing, yet to be named.

Thank you all so much for being such generous benefactors.  It can be no coincidence that Bev, Yvonne, Alan and Bob were all on our recent August and September safaris and saw all that we do first hand, witnessed the difficult working conditions for the wildlife conservationists and, consequently,  just wanted to help as much as they could.  Indeed, these funds will go a long way towards helping out our current challenges.  There have been 5 rhino carcasses found in the last week in Bubiana, one of the conservancies!  How absolutely shocking, making more than 70 for the year so far! 

Our thanks also go to all the under bidders who helped generate such interest in this.  Please feel free to donate whatever amount you'd like, please, all to a good cause.  All tax deductible donations can go straight into 066113, 1004 4343, with your name please, or simply post a cheque to our office please.  Receipts will be issued the Saturday following the donation.

Sharon Pincott, an Australian woman from Brisbane, has been working very closely with the Presidential herd of elephants in the Hwange National Park and adjacent areas, since 2000. The SAVE FOUNDATION of Australia has been supporting her with fuel and vehicle expenses for several years. Many of you would have met her on our Zimbabwean trips.

There are many different elephant family groups, each one named after a particular alphabet letter -- the B family, D family, etc. 'Lady', the matriarch of the L family has just had another calf, a female, who will now be known as "Lantana". Here she is!

If you just want to make a small donation to help keep Sharon's 29 year old Range Rover chugging around with fuel in it for a bit longer, then please do so  --  066113, 10044343 (please note your name for the receipt).

Again, thanks to you all and we wish LANTANA and the rhino calf a long and happy and snare-free life.

October 2008:  25 Years of Rhino Conservation in Zimbabwe with Norman English We were privileged to host NORMAN ENGLISH for an illustrated talk on his work in Zimbabwe. Whilst not a household name in Perth, in the rhino world of Zimbabwe, he is a legend, having devoted the past 25 years to rhino conservation of one form or another. He is the longest surviving European game ranger in the Parks system. Here's a brief run down of what Norman talked about; 1. His early days in Gonarezhou, 1982/3, fitting the first ever tracking collars to the rhinos. 2. Working with the white rhinos at Lake Kyle. 3. Capture of 10 rhinos at Chete in 1992 to bring to Dubbo for a breeding programme. 4. Development of Sinamatella as the foremost Intensive Protection Zone and the increase in rhino numbers. 5. Onslaught of systematic poaching from 2003 and the massive reduction in numbers. 6. Transfer to the Midlands conservancy and recent happenings there. 7. His return to Zimbabwe in 5 weeks time to take up a new challenge as head of anti-poaching operations in the biggest privately owned wildlife estate in Zimbabwe with 120 rhinos.

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The SAVE FOUNDATION of Australia - NSW Branch presented:    A Night in Africa A Gala Dinner Dance to raise funds for the beleaguered African Rhino Guest Speaker TONY PARK - Australia’s answer to Wilbur Smith

Saturday 9 February 2008

An evening with Ian Chappell A Dinner/auction with the celebrated former cricketing great. Monday 10 December 2007.

The SAVE FOUNDATION of Australia - NSW Branch held   A Comedy Night in Sydney on Thursday 30th August with Wil Anderson of 2 Triple M Radio (formerly of The Glasshouse), supported by Stef Torok and partner. A good time was had by all, and significant funds were raised for the projects supported by the SAVE FOUNDATION of Australia in Africa. Thanks to all  who were present, and most of all to Jim for organising this great event!

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A climb to help save the rhinos: one of our members, Evelyn Wong organised a climb of  Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in September 2007, to benefit the SAVE FOUNDATION of Australia.  Three more members, and one friend, participated and all five reached the top (5,895mASL) , raising in $10,000 in the process. While the trip was entirely self-funded, all monies donated go directly towards the actions of the Society in the field, and are fully tax-deductible in Australia. Read all about this endeavor here.

Examples of how donated money will be spent:

$50	pays the wages of one anti-poaching unit ranger for a month
$100	kits out an APU ranger for a year
$150	fuels a 4WD patrol vehicle for a month
$200	buys a two-way radio for APU patrol communications
$500	buys a set of 4WD tyres for an APU
$750	pays for one teacher for a year
$1000	buys fuels to pump water from one borehole during the dry season

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Our 20th anniversary Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 24 July 2007, was held at the Education Centre theatrette of the Perth Zoo.  It was a great landmark and achievement for us, and we were honored by the presence and participation of over a hundred members and sympathisers of the Society, including many long-time members.

In addition to reviewing as briefly as we could our accomplishments of the past 20 years, we were honored to host the world premier of Greg Opie's film:

That we still have rhinos here ... 

Thanks to all our supporters in these difficult times for the rhinos and the people of Zimbabwe. We pledge to continue our action to ensure that they remain in the wild for our children's children to see.

  

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Here are some more of the main past events:

• December 2006: An evening with David Gower raised a mammoth $150,000 for the cause.  David Gower, OBE, a former England test captain, was one of the most elegant batsmen of his generation. Since retiring from competitive cricket he has become a broadcaster and journalist, commentating on both BBC and Sky TV. He was raised in Tanzania before moving to England and his interests include safaris and wildlife conservation. David Gower has been involved with the SAVE FOUNDATION since 1988, and a patron since 1993.

• February 2006: A Safari Film Night, filled the Perth Zoo Education Centre Theatrette almost to capacity on Wednesday 15 February 2006, and generated much interest and stimulating discussions.  If you dream of joining one of our trips, email Nicholas or call him on 9444 6550. 

• November 2005: An evening with Bryce Courtenay, a fund-raising event held at the Perth Hyatt Regency.  Bryce supplied the main entertainment with an inspirational talk, and fundraising came from our auction of African safaris, sporting memorabilia (Eagles, Australian cricket team, Tiger Woods, and other celebrities), African artefacts, paintings, and other beautiful items. We raised over A$ 70,000, and all funds will be used for our ongoing programmes of anti-poaching units, tracking equipment, field kit and other necessities on the ground in Africa. 

• October 2004: James Thompson, a veterinary doctor and one of our members who has done voluntary work with the anti-snaring programme, recently organised a raffle amongst his students at the University of Sydney and raised $430 to benefit DART, the Dete Animal Rescue Trust in Zimbabwe.

• October 2003: Dinner Auction and Cricket event. Raised $ 65,000.

• December 2002: RE/MAX "Black Rhino Legends Cricket Eights", played in Perth , preceded by an evening with David Gower at Hyatt Regency in Perth - 350 guests. Raised $80,000.

• February 2001: Celebrity cricketers auction at Hyatt Regency with special guests Heath Streak and Zimbabwe cricket team. Raised $40,000.

• April 2000: Andy Searle Memorial function with special guest Chris Foggin - raised $7,000.

• 1997: Third SAVE FOUNDATION cricket fundraiser in Zimbabwe . Raised $30,000

• September 1996: Second SAVE FOUNDATION cricket fundraiser in Zimbabwe. Raised $40,000.

• July 1996: An evening with Bryce Courtenay at Hyatt Regency Ballroom. 356 guests. $38,000 raised.

• 1995: First SAVE FOUNDATION cricket fundraiser in Zimbabwe . Raised $27,000

• 1995: Dinner with David Gower, raised $40,000

• 1994: An evening with Allan Border & Richard Hadlee raised $40,000

• 1993: A dinner with David Gower at Doyler's in Sydney, raised $55,000

• 1991: A dinner with David Gower at Coco's in Perth, raised $14,000

• 1989: A garden party at Bishop's House in Perth, raised $15,000

• 1988: A soiree at Bishop's House in Perth, raised $10,000

• 1987-1994: An annual display at the Perth Royal Show raised a total of $85,000

• 1988-2004: 11 safaris over this period, have raised a total of $140,000

Stay tuned for the next SAVE FOUNDATION event!