After a scorching summer full of fiery fun the GoGoDragons! said goodbye to our fine city by raising £369,500 for children's charity Break.
Eighty-two of the colourful fire-breathers went under the hammer at a charity auction at The Forum last night.
The event was an exciting grand finale to the GoGoDragons! trail – brought to Norwich by Break and Wild in Art – which had seen the winged warriors win the hearts of people of all ages.
The GoGoDragons! beat the amount raised by their predecessors – the GoGoGorillas! – who in 2013 raised a total of £272,300.
The fundraising superstars which sold for the most money last night included GoGoMosaic, by artist Carolyn Ash, which went for £25,000, Duff, by artist Alex Egan, which raised £20,500 and Luda, by Norfolk's 'Mini Monet' Kieron Williamson, which sold for £20,000.
Stormy and Scorcher! each raised £7,200 and Bling went for £7,000.
About 550 people packed into The Forum to snap up a dragon, with many more also bidding online.
Television presenter and Break patron Jake Humphrey was the host for the night, while TW Gaze auctioneer Mike Sarson was the man with the golden gavel.
Cavell was the first dragon to be auctioned off, raising £4,800, next up was Bittern and Wherry who raised £2,800.
Dragonfly – the winner of the EDP and Evening News' online competition to find the most popular dragon – was third and sold for £5,600, and then one by one the rest of the clan took to the auction stage.
George the Dragon, the EDP and Norwich Evening News dragon designed by our competition winner John Checketts and artist Martin Wall, fetched £3,800.
Mr Humphrey paid tribute to the team that brought GoGoDragons! to Norwich and spoke of the amazing legacy the dragons would leave behind.
He said: 'I thought after the GoGoGorillas! we wouldn't necessarily top that and we have with the dragons.
'I just think the whole thing moved on to another level, and again, I am just blown away by this relatively small charity that I am lucky enough to be the patron of.
'They have come up trumps again, this small group of people have worked day and night so that the people of Norwich could just walk out one day and find all the dragons on the pavements.
'The amount of effort to get that to happen is huge, and then the dragons all disappear and return to be auctioned off.
'All of that takes such a lot of effort and I'm just so proud of the whole of the Break team.'
He said the incredible amount of money raised would help Break support even more children, young people and families in need.
'This is huge for Break, we are talking here about really seriously large amounts of money,' he added.
'I think a lot of people just see the Break charity shops and assume that's the way they make their money but like all charities Break always needs as much money as possible.
'It's nights like the auction and the whole of the dragon trail that means more people across Norfolk can be helped by Break.'
Martin Green, GoGoDragons! project manager, said: 'For the charity and for everybody involved, last night was the culmination of all the work on the GoGoDragons! project.
'£369,500 will make a massive difference to a small charity like Break. It will enable us to look at new services and add value to the services we have already got, and it will really go a long way to change children, young people and families' lives in East Anglia.'
He added: 'We would like to thank everybody who has been involved – our sponsors, artists, everybody – none of this would have been possible without everybody's valuable support.'
Artist Carolyn Ash, whose dragon GoGoMosaic went for the biggest sum of £25,000, said: 'I am totally in shock. I really didn't expect it at all.
'I feel a bit sad [to see GoGoMosaic go to a new home] but really happy that someone loved him enough to want to buy him. I am totally in shock. It is brilliant that that amount of money is going to Break – it is an amazing charity.'
For full details about how much each dragon was sold for, see tomorrow's paper.
Visit www.gogodragons.co.uk
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