A commemorative note released in honour of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' has raised £186,754 for UK charity Together for Short Lives.
The UK based charity - which aims to speak out for children and young people who tragically have short life expectancies - received one of the largest single donations in the history of the organisation after the auction for the official 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' commemorative note closed at a staggering £186,754.
In addition to the large note, 50 smaller versions of the design - which features a light side, including images of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and a dark side with an image of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) - were also auctioned at a fixed price of £100, and sold out in 15 minutes when they went on sale on Monday (18.12.17).
Polly Shute, the Executive Director of Fundraising for the charity said in a statement: "The generosity of Star Wars fans around the world has been overwhelming and this donation, one of the largest single donations in our history, will make a huge difference to the care we can provide to the 49,000 children and young people in Britain living with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions. We're hugely grateful to Disney, De La Rue, The GREAT Britain Campaign and eBay for their support in this unique project and it's a fantastic example of the special relationship between the franchise and the UK. The money raised could provide over 7,400 hours of specialist hospice care; giving families precious moments together and allowing parents the rare opportunity to just be mum and dad."
The money raised by the note - which was created in partnership between Disney, De La Rue and the GREAT Britain Campaign and auctioned exclusively on online auction website eBay - will help more children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions receive the very best of care.
The movie's director Rian Johnson, whose signature features on the note, said: "It's incredibly exciting to be part of this one of a kind initiative to mark the release of 'The Last Jedi' and for such a fantastic cause. It was a joy filming in the UK and working with a British crew and I'm delighted the GREAT Britain Campaign and De La Rue are celebrating this with the commemorative note."
De La Rue is the world's largest commercial producer of currency, and the GREAT Britain Campaign is a marketing campaign set up by the UK government to showcase the very best of what Britain has to offer.
The charity auction was set up to support 40 years of British creativity behind the 'Star Wars' franchise, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Together for Short Lives.