First of all a Happy New Year to you all, and it’s going to be a big one with Maiden concerts all around the planet and hopefully near you too, if we haven’t already visited your area.
Our ride last year in Egypt was such a great success for the Charities, raising close to a quarter of a million pounds (about $385,000), that they asked me to arrange another just before we go off on tour. We are all aware of the difficult times many Charities are having in these harsh economic times, so, on Jan 26, myself and 24 hardy souls are heading for Cuba to cycle 100 miles over a 48 hour period once again in aid of two splendid Children’s charities, Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and Childline. I am hoping to personally reach £66,600, having fallen marginally short of this last year and am of course paying all the related costs personally so anything that is contributed goes straight to the charity.
To assist this, like last year for Egypt, we are having an online auction exclusive to FC members, details of which are below. I hope you will like the items on offer so may the best fan win! If any of you would like to make a contribution otherwise, no matter how large or small, you can do so easily and safely at www.justgiving.com/RodSmallwood . Any assistance is much appreciated. We will post on here a link to the website after the ride so you can see some of the havoc caused by our intrepid gang — to give you some idea last year’s Egypt ride is here.
Take care everyone and see you on tour !!
– Rod
CHARITY AUCTION
This auction will run for 3 days, starting on the evening of Thursday 27th January and ending on Sunday 30th January. Bidding is open to all members of the Iron Maiden Fan Club – both online-only and full. We’ll post full details and links here when the auction starts, but for now we’d like to whet your appetite with what will be on offer:
1) Rod’s personalised gold disc for UK sales of over 100,000 copies of Iron Maiden’s ‘The Final Frontier’. 40cm x 40cm, framed and ready to hang on your wall.
2) Signed plans for Ed Force One’s ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ livery. You don’t just throw some paint at a 757, it all has to be thought out very carefully. These are the plans for the SBIT tour livery – an A3 (30 x 42cm) sheet which acts as a guide for the technicians who apply the logos to the plane. We will get this sheet personally signed to the winning bidder (or to a person of the winner’s choosing) by the whole band.
3) Rod’s personal ‘The Final Frontier’ tour jacket, signed by the band. As worn by The Killer Krew when it’s cold and wet. Now you can own the jacket without all the hard work and getting rained on. The jacket is size XL. We will get this jacket personally signed to the winning bidder (or to a person of the winner’s choosing) by the whole band.
4) Iron Maiden at the London O2 on Saturday August 6th. Very special access to watch the show with a friend from the mixing desk, in the company of Rod Smallwood and his large cooler of beers! (this includes 2 standing admission tickets to the concert).
If you are a fanclub member and you’d like to bid – go to http://www.ironmaiden.com/auction/showcat.php?cat=5