Meeting and Incentive Travel’s online auction has raised an impressive £24,500 for Meetings Industry Meeting Needs (MIMN).

Bidding for the auction’s 102 lots closed at 2pm on Wednesday with a flurry of activity in the final minutes. Among the popular lots was a three-night weekend stay with extras in Tel Aviv, donated by Eshet Incentives & Conferences, which went for £480 to Martin Goldsmith, and a two-night stay at Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Switzerland, with access to the Willow Stream Spa: after more than 30 bids, Julie Gilbert won it for £416.

Jonathan Sloan of Hills Balfour successfully bid on a weekend stay in a luxury penthouse at Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, The Netherlands, including transfers and extras, while 40 bids were placed on a two-night stay, including breakfast, at the Park Hyatt Vienna, with Jane Griffiths of GLH Hotels bidding £385.

Other popular lots were a corporate team building day for 10 donated by Go Ape, won by Steve Knight of the Meetings Show, and four tickets to the Rugby World Cup warm-up game, England vs Ireland on 5 September, donated by Levy Restaurants, which was won by David Hackett.

Tim Chudley, executive committee member and fundraising liaison for MIMN, thanked event professionals for their support. “The board of Meetings Industry Meeting Needs are delighted to be able to make a real difference to the lives of many people in desperate need, thanks to the generosity of our industry,” he said.

“Once again, we are indebted to all the industry suppliers for providing so many outstanding prizes,” added Charles Blowfield, MIMN’s honorary treasurer. “The generosity of all the bidding participants is so appreciated and in real terms represents a major aspect of our annual income. In return, MIMN can support even more worthy causes in the process”.

In total, 1,679 bids were placed in the auction, which was held ahead of the M&IT Industry Awards, which take place on Tuesday, 3 March, at Battersea Evolution in London. All funds raised from the auction will go to MIMN, the event industry’s own charity, which raises funds for worthy causes in the UK and abroad.

Projects supported last year included Chanzige Primary School in Southern Tanzania, which bought six computers and a wall-mounted white board and projector with a grant of £2,400, the Free Hands youth project in Cyprus, and SpecialEffect in the UK, which supplies equipment such as eye-control computers for those who have lost the use of their limbs.