IT IS the present that avid Rugby fans have been dreaming of – and the Evening Star can make that dream come true.THE rugby ball used in the match where England smashed South Africa in a 53-3 win has been signed by the England squad and is up for grabs to the highest bidder.

By Jessica Nicholls

IT IS the present that avid Rugby fans have been dreaming of – and the Evening Star can make that dream come true.

THE rugby ball used in the match where England smashed South Africa in a 53-3 win has been signed by the England squad and is up for grabs to the highest bidder.

And to make it even better the lucky bidder will even be helping out the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service as the ball has been specially donated to help out the Evening Star's Christmas appeal to Save a Life.

The ball was donated by Graeme Kalbraier, managing director of Direct Motorline. The team at the firm bid £1,000 for it at their annual function at the Cricket Club Conference in London.

So roll up! Roll up! And get those bids flowing to get someone the best present ever to get their New Year going in the right style.

Make sure that this coveted ball that was part of a fantastic piece of history being made belongs to the person that you think deserves it.

All the money will go straight into the Evening Star's Christmas Appeal fund, to Save A Life which will buy vital communications equipment for the SARS doctors.

We are nearly halfway to reaching the £20,000 target we have set to buy the equipment for the team of volunteer doctors who are on call 24 hours a day seven days a week to help save the lives of accident victims.

Better communications equipment for the SARS can help them save even more lives.

Tracking equipment, satellite navigation equipment, mobile phone pagers and radios can all help make sure the doctors are on the scene as quickly as possible.

With the aid of tracking equipment, ambulance controllers can pinpoint exactly where SARS doctors are at the time of an accident to send out the one closest to the scene.

Navigation equipment helps them to find their way to the scene as quickly as possible and radios can help them keep in constant contact with ambulance controllers even when a mobile phone would go out of range.

So, dig deep and get a present to treasure for life at the same time as helping out a vital service that one day could be saving your life, or that or someone close to you.

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Bids or donations should be sent in to Geraldine Thompson, Editor's Secretary, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN.

Customers at the Co-op stores in the town can also help the appeal as by quoting the special community dividend number 977 when paying for goods. The dividend will then go directly to the SARS appeal.