The 2008 Chris Cairns Foundation Gala Dinner and Auction was once again a huge success. As in 2007 the dinner was held at the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland and was attended by over 400 guests. Key guests on the night included Prime Minister Helen Clark, Sports Minister Clayton Cosgrove, National Party Deputy Leader Bill English, Dilmah Tea owner Merrill Fernando, Phoenix Football Club owner Terry Serepisos and Dancing with the Stars’ Tina Cross.

The MC’s for the evening were Carol Hirschfeld and John Campbell. The special guests for the evening were New Zealand’s own champion jockey Lance O’Sullivan and past Australian cricketer and now Channel 9 commentator Simon O’Donnell.

Toll NZ Chief Executive Officer David Jackson paid tribute to all the hard working train drivers who have to deal with the accidents that occur on the rail network. The Prime Minister also assured the government’s continual commitment to rail safety and applauded the efforts of the Chris Cairns Foundation in achieving so much over such a short period of time.

This year’s dinner saw a racing theme applied to make the night “Ladies Day at Ascot”.

The night’s racing was hosted by the very entertaining Phil Leishman accompanied by his lovely jockeys and jocketts. A Fashions in the Field segment saw some of the lovely fashion present in the room showcased on the runway for all to see.

The evening also included a silent and live action segment. The silent auction items included a Baby Buggy, Mini Bar Fridge, a morning with the Rock FM just to name a few. The live auction’s main items included signed guitars from Paul McCartney and U2 which grabbed a lot of the audience’s attention as well as a trip to London to watch the Lords Test between England and New Zealand hosted by Chris himself.

On the night Chris Cairns spoke of how thankful he was for the support of everyone involved with getting the Foundation’s campaign to promote rail safety in New Zealand.

All the money raised from the gala dinner will go towards implementing an education program to inject into schools throughout the country to raise awareness and to highlight how dangerous the rail network can be when taken lightly.

Over $75,000 was raised for rail safety in New Zealand. The Foundation would like to thank all involved with this years dinner.