Charity Auction 2005

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The auction closed at 1pm on Friday, 23 December 2005. All winning bidders are being notified by e-mail.

More than £64,500 was raised for our chairites - nearly £15,000 more than last year's auction record. Thank you to all our bidders, who tested our bidding site to the full as about £7,000 was added to the total in the final hour.

* Click HERE for full terms and conditions.

* Click HERE for auction homepage, with full list of winning bids.

LOT 1: A DAY AT THE PAPER

Ever wondered how a daily national newspaper gets put together? Come and see how it works for one exciting day, hearing the news agenda at morning conference, watching the tension build as the deadline hour approaches. Meet the glamorous staff and marvel at their camaraderie and coolness under pressure. Winning bid: amar, £2,251.11. (Last year's winning bid: £1,101)

LOT 2: MEET THE BOSS

Enjoy a power lunch with our editor-in-chief, Simon Kelner, at The Ivy, London's trendiest media restaurant. Try the oysters and the roast lamb, remember not to stare at Kevin Spacey on table six, and share the Indy helmsman's views on war, climate change and David Cameron. Winning bid: 1489, £3,750. (Last year: £1,511)

LOT 3: THREE SQUARE MEALS

A treat for the mobile gourmand: Simon Calder, our travel editor, will buy you three meals with him in three Eurostar destinations: breakfast at the Place des Vosges, Paris; lunch at the Place St Jean, Lille; and dinner in the Grand Place, Brussels. Winning bid: dottie, £2,510. (Last year: £2,020)

LOT 4: YASMIN TEA

Do you have strong views on multiculturalism and a passion for lamb makhani? Combine them in the presence of our columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. She offers dinner for two adults and two children at her favourite curry house in Southall. Winning bid: peterlob, £2,510. (Last year: £1,450)

LOT 5: SELF INTEREST

Join Will Self, scourge of the complacent, flayer of the pompous, master of the polysyllabic diatribe, for a walk around your neighbourhood, a frank exchange of views, and an appearance in his "PsychoGeography" column in The Independent magazine. Winning bid: oprah, £1,615. (Last year: £751)
Note: Subject to Will Self's agreement in relation to location.

LOT 6: HIX'LL FIX IT

You read his recipes every week in The Independent magazine, you trust his judgement, you're amazed by the results. Now get Mark Hix, star of The Ivy's kitchens, to come to your home - provided it's inside the M25 - and cook for you and up to six of your friends. Winning bid: jeremyc, £1,680. (Last year: £2,010)

LOT 7: THE FASH BASH

Were you at the Stella McCartney sale? Would you kill for a tasselled Araline bag? Get a ringside seat alongside Susannah Frankel, our fashionista, at a top designer show in London Fashion Week and she will mark your card for you. Winning bid: missannief, £2,005. (Last year: £750)

LOT 8: AUTHORLAND

Fancy an evening on the London literary circuit? Let John Walsh, columnist, author and Soho flaneur, take you to one of the season's big book launches, followed by dinner (and even the odd song) at the Groucho Club. Winning bid: pphelps, £1,800. (Last year: £1,301)

LOT 9: FOR FUTURE FREDDIES

Win a day at cricket's Holy of Holies, watching a Middlesex game, followed by some coaching by Angus Fraser in the Lord's Inner School. This is for up to 12 children, accompanying adults welcome, up to a maximum of one per child. Winning bid: Dorf, £2,350. (Not previously offered)

LOT 10: BOUQUETS OF BARBED WINE

Are you a wine buff? Can you tell a pinot noir from a cabernet sauvignon? It's time you went on a wine-tasting with Anthony Rose, The Independent's knowledgeable wine expert. And you'll be able to take home a case of specially chosen vintages. Winning bid: pod1, £950. (Last year: £1,010)

LOT 11: MAKE-UP MAKEOVER

You're knackered by partygoing and feel like a sad-eyed lady of the low-life. But help is at hand. Let Susie Rushton, our style expert, help you try out new beauty treatments, talk you through a cosmetic and hair makeover, and reveal a gorgeous new you. Winning bid: chrisoleshko, £710. (Last year: £850)
Note: Limited to the London area only.

LOT 12: I'LL HAVE WHAT SHE'S HAVING

You know about food. You've eaten sweetbreads and fig soufflé, tripe and samphire. So how about trying your hand as a restaurant reviewer? Join Tracey McLeod, our award-winning critic, as she inspects another quaking dining house. Winning bid: dottie, £2,500. (Last year: £1,250)

LOT 13: RAMBLING TALES

Enjoy a tramp in the countryside with Janet Street-Porter, columnist, TV personality and phenomenal talker. Climb into your wellies, seize a stout cane and she'll take you on a bracing stroll in the Yorkshire Dales, interrupted by a pub lunch. You may learn a thing or two about ecology and possibly even Elton John's wedding. Winning bid: pfattorini, £1,706. (Last year: £1,752)

LOT 14: HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Can you tell your acer from your elbow? Perhaps you need assistance in creating a domestic Eden. Anna Pavord, gardening writer, will give you expert advice to turn a backyard into a beauty spot. Winning bid: riwh, £2,750. (Last year: £3,500)

LOT 15: HELLO SAILOR

Enjoy a day on the Solent, splicing the mizzen and ducking the boom, with the solo yachtswoman and Independent writer Emma Richards MBE, the youngest person and the first British woman to complete the Around Alone round-the world yacht race in 2002. Winning bid: jpahl, £1,555. (Last year: £1,151)

LOT 16: AXE HEROICS

Ever since you saw Almost Famous you've wanted to be a rock journalist? You want to be the next Julie Burchill? Right then. We'll get tickets to a top gig, take you backstage to meet the stars, and run your review in the Arts pages. Winning bid: DonnieDarker, £950. (Last year: £1,500)

LOT 17: TOP GEAR

Drive your peers wild with envy when you cruise past in a new Bentley, driven by a chauffeur with a uniform and an air of superiority. You'll have to hand the car (and driver) back at the end, but you'll be a king for a day. Winning bid: urwin, £610. (Last year: £857)

LOT 18: TURN UP THE VOLUME

Wouldn't you love to see how a record gets made, in the company of a genuine rock star? Alex James, the Blur bass player and Independent columnist, offers to show one lucky winner around the recording studio when he cuts his next record. Winning bid: warnocpe, £1,160. (Last year: £950)

LOT 19: CALL THE 'TOON

Have you always secretly thought your partner resembled a cartoon character? Do you see yourself as a bit of a comic? Our cartoonist, Sally Ann Lasson, will draw a strip cartoon of you and your partner. You supply the embarrassing personal tics. Winning bid: johndaly, £550. (Last year: £1,445)

LOT 20: POISON PEN

Remember 11 November this year, when the whole front page of The Independent was filled with a single illustration? It was Ralph Steadman's shattering "Remember!" Now you can get a signed (and personalised) limited-edition print of this moving image. Winning bid: Stuartd, £870. (Last year: £1,500)

LOT 21: BEADLE'S ABOUT

Did you know that the sneaky trickster Beadle is the nation's most omniscient trivia fiend and quiz master? He will host a quiz party for a minimum of 80 people at a birthday party or special evening in a pub. Local expenses to be met by the bidder. Winning bid: SteveKidd, £1,405. (Last year: £920)

LOT 22: LUNCH ON THE HOUSE

Follow in the footsteps of Gladstone, Disraeli, Churchill, Thatcher and Blair and explore the culinary delights of the Palace of Westminster. Join Andy Grice, our political editor, for lunch, political analysis and maybe even a touch of gossip. Winning bid : Hassan, £1,856. (Last year: £900)
Note: Subject to Jeremy Beadle's agreement in relation to location.

LOT 23: ON THE BALL

Are you tired of standing at football matches by people who contribute nothing more than "Oi, Lampard, you lightweight"? Keen to raise discussion a notch or two? Go to a Premiership match and press conference with an Independent sports reporter. Winning bid: Hassan, £575. (Last year: £1,200)

LOT 24: TOUCH DOWN

You could spend a hedonistic afternoon at Twickenham, the headquarters of English rugby, in The Independent's hospitality box, drinking wine, eating lunch, and watching the lads compete in a Six Nations game. Winning bid: CaptainPanakin, £1,200. (Last year: £1,001)

LOT 25: LET'S SEE ACTION

Is there a major sporting event coming up in your life? Whatever the occasion - 5-a-side football match, dwile-flonking championships, your daughter's gymkhana - we'll send an Independent sports writer along to report on it for our sports pages. Winning bid: gbmx, £1,150. (Last year: £1,051)

LOT 26: SNAPPED

Isn't it time there were some decent professional pictures of your football team, your local sumo-wrestling fraternity or your rugby-playing son in action? David Ashdown, an award-winning sports photographer, will make them look like heroes. Winning bid: lauragreen02, £815. (Last year: £510)

LOT 27: SERVING AN ACE

Nick Bolletieri, the tennis coach and Independent columnist, is offering a week's scholarship for a junior player (under 18) at his training centre in Florida. Includes room, board and tennis programme, but not air fare or transport to and from the airport. Winning bid: kevin, £2,050. (Last year: £3,000)

LOT 28: FAMILY PLOT

Isn't it about time you got yourself some proper photographs of your family, before they get any older? Don't leave it to the high-street snapper. Enlist the help of The Independent's photographer David Sandison, who will supply you with a portfolio of top-class portraits. Winning bid: Dorf, £1,750. (Last year: £1,800)

LOT 29: STICKY WICKETS

The stand-up comedian, alternative historian and lethally witty columnist Mark Steel is also an avid cricket fan. He will supply the tickets for a day at a top-level game where you will together share the agony, the joy, the middle-order collapse... During the game, Mark will give a personal " Mark Steel lecture" on the history of cricket. The lecture will be illustrated and possibly drunk. Winning bid: blackash, £1,010. (Last year: £677)

LOT 30: MAKING FACES

Would you like to have an insulting Dorian Gray-style caricature of your lovely face hanging in the downstairs loo? Or a lampoon of your most hated enemy? Dave Brown, the cartoonist who turned President George Bush into a chimp, will oblige. Winning bid: djwright, £420. (Last year: £650)

LOT 31: SAYLE TIME

Come and have lunch with Alexei Sayle, the one-off comedian, novelist, polemicist, actor and car expert, followed by an unusual digestif - you get to conduct a test drive with him in a flash new motor. All right, John? Winning bid: margogrimshaw, £770. (Last year: £1,100)

LOT 32: THE ROSS EXPERIENCE

What's it like being on the receiving end of a celebrity interview? Deborah Ross, the Torquemada of Crouch End, has teased revelations out of everyone from Ian Paisley to Pierce Brosnan. It's time she did the same for you - and we'll publish the results. Winning bid: gavin, £2,570. (Not previously offered)
Note: All bidders/intended recipients of this lot must be over 25.

LOT 33: MATCH POINT

An absolute treat for a football-loving household. Graeme Le Saux, the former Chelsea and England left back and an Independent columnist, will play host to a family of four as they join him on the set of the BBC TV programme Match of the Day 2, where he is on the team of presenters. Winning bid: twinkle25red, £1,750. (Not previously offered)

LOT 34: VIN EXTRAORDINAIRE

Enjoy a day of gorgeous landscapes and copious dégustation as John Lichfield, The Independent's Paris correspondent, welcomes you to lunch in the campagne of France and takes you on a guided tour of the vineyards of Burgundy. Winning bid: speldzchris, £1,325. (Last year: £1,750)

LOT 35: PANDORA NIGHT

The lot of the modern newspaper diarist is tough indeed - a ceaseless round of film premieres, book launches, and drinks with tactless contacts. Join suave Pandora editor Guy Adams for a gossipy night out in Celeb City. Winning bid: derry, £490. (Last year: £444)

LOT 36: AGONY CORNER

Are you nursing a secret trauma? Do all your relationships seem doomed to failure? Have no fear. Virginia Ironside is here. The agony aunt will take you out to dinner, talk through your problems with you and restore your broken heart. Winning bid: jeancottage, £535. (Last year: £610)
Note: Subject to Virginia Ironside's agreement in relation to location.

LOT 37: HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

Your chance to become part of newspaper history: simply tell us your own or a friend's magic moments or embarrassing memories, and we'll create a seamless mock-up of one of our celebrated front pages. Winning bid: RNGC, £350. (Last year: £800)

LOT 38: TRACEY DOES TOWER HILL

The controversial artist Tracey Emin, self-confessedly "one of the world's worst tourists," has never visited the Tower of London. Would you like to go with her? She'll meet you at her studio first, give you a guided tour, then off you'll go to the ravens and Beefeaters. Bring the family. Winning bid: PICCASO, £4,500. (Not previously offered)

LOT 39: UNDERSTANDING THE WAR

Robert Fisk, the nation's most acclaimed and respected commentator on Middle East affairs, will give a special lunchtime lecture on Islam and the West, followed by questions, to an audience of up to 12 people in The Independent's boardroom. Winning bid: bxs1, £3,515. (Not previously offered)

LOT 40: COUNTRY LIFE

You've read Brian Viner's column, and perhaps his book; now you can sample the lifestyle. Enjoy a weekend for up to four people in one of Brian's Herefordshire cottages: the Viners will take you to see some of the sights of England's most rural county. Winning bid: bosley, £1,405. (Last year: £875)

LOT 41: KEEP IT GREEN

The Indy's goddess of ecological living, Julia Stephenson, offers a green makeover. She'll visit your home and suggest how to make it more environmentally friendly: how to eat better, lessen electricity bills, buy pollution-gobbling plants... Winning bid: derry, £705. (Not previously offered)
Note: Subject to Julia Stephenson's agreement in relation to location.

* Click HERE for the auction's full terms and conditions.

* Click HERE for auction homepage, with full list of winning bids.

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