ROD: THIS BIG HEART OF MINE...
Star helps raise nearly £600K to buy vital NHS equipment
HE was famously described by former bandmate Ronnie Wood as ‘being as tight as two coats of paint’.
But it seems veteran rocker Sir Rod Stewart has become much more generous with age after he helped raise almost £600,000 for the NHS by auctioning off some of his personal mementoes.
The Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? singer joined fellow celebrities in handing over memorabilia.
His contributions to the fundraiser, organised by radio DJ Chris Evans, included a signed top from his beloved Celtic FC, a Cartier watch, a photo of him collecting his knighthood and some of his old clothes.
The online auction was held to raise money for Scrubs Glorious Scrubs, a voluntary sewing collaborative making non-surgical scrubs for NHS workers during the Covid-19 crisis.
One bidder paid £100,000 to attend a lunch hosted by Sir Rod and wife Penny Lancaster in London, with food cooked by top chef Angela Hartnett.
The Cartier watch was auctioned for more than £17,000 while the Celtic shirt fetched £6,000.
The celebrity studded auction raised £596,667. Other lots included a lunch with Talksport radio host Alan Brazil, which sold for £23,500.
Former footballer Paul Gascoigne’s Rangers training top, which he gifted to pal Evans, raised £550 and a suit owned by Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri fetched £650.
Sir Rod always had a reputation for being careful with his cash, and earlier this year it emerged that he had even charged ex-girlfriend Britt Ekland $100-a-month in lodgings when they lived together from 1975-1977.
A spokesman for Scrubs Glorious Scrubs said: ‘Thank-you to everyone who bid or donated.
‘We are so grateful.’