Political whisky bid raises £435 (East of England Liberal Democrats)

East of England Liberal Democrats <info@eastlibdems.org.uk>

Political whisky bid raises £435

January 6, 2012 3:37 PM
Originally published by Bob Russell

Colchester MP Bob Russell with the bottle of House of Commons whisky displaying the signatures of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. A bottle of whisky signed by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition has raised £435 towards a target of £10,000 by pupils of Colchester County High School for Girls to build a school in Uganda for 100 children orphaned in civil conflict.

The auction was organised by Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell after he heard about the fund-raising appeal.

The winning bid came from someone living at Great Horkesley who does not wish to have his name publicised.

Sir Bob said: "He expressed admiration for what the pupils were seeking to achieve and felt that acquiring an historic memento was a novel way for him to support the project."

He added: "It takes time to get the signatures of the three Leaders. First, I left the bottle with Prime Minister David Cameron's office staff at the House of Commons, getting that of my Leader Nick Clegg was the easiest because I meet him every week at our regular meeting for Lib-Dem MPs, and for Labour Leader Ed Miliband I waited outside the voting lobby one night. All three readily agreed to sign."