Former All Black captain Blackadder – now coach of the Crusaders – nominated the Child Cancer Foundation as his charity of choice when donating the pastel drawing, auctioned at SWUG’s awards night dinner, where he was guest speaker.

The print group matched the $700 raised dollar-for-dollar, and when Newman sold the painting to Craig Amos of PMP, the proceeds of a raffle he held locally were contributed as well.

Now a cheque for $2500 has been presented to the charity, and will mean children suffering from cancer in the earthquake-ravaged city will be closer to getting a family home built as a result.

Receiving the jumbo cheque, the foundation’s funding and business development manager for Canterbury and the West Coast, Clare Wilkinson said it was “fantastic” that Todd had nominated the charity.

“It will go a long way in supporting children with cancer and their families,” she says. “The funds will be best spent directly on the services we provide for the families that are currently in treatment, particularly over this holiday season when we are trying to keep the families together as much as possible.

With only two treatment centres in New Zealand, the majority of families have to travel away from their support networks for lengthy treatment their children require.

“We are also about to build a new family place after the previous building was demolished after the earthquakes. This is a huge project for 2013 and will require significant fundraising in order to complete it,” she says. “It is a priority for us to re-establish a family place for the families to use that is in walking distance to the hospital and can provide families with a homely non-clinical environment to relax in as an escape.”

SWUG NZ chairman Dan Blackbourn says the organisation was delighted to support the foundation’s work: “It is heartening to see the generosity of Todd and our members going to further the support of children suffering from cancer and their families, especially in Christchurch where the strain on families has been so great.

“We will look forward to seeing the family centre built and hope that our contribution helps it become reality as soon as possible.”

Pictured: Todd Blackadder with the painting and (from left) Craig Amos, Adam Newman and Dan Blackbourn