British Airways’ Flying Start Charity raises more than £5,000 from auctioned coat worn by Benedict Cumberbatch

LONDON, 2014-04-29 — /Travel PR News/ — The Belstaff winter coat worn by Benedict Cumberbatch on the cover of British Airways’ April High Life magazine has been auctioned for a startling £5,010 – nearly three times its retail value.  The money raised will go to Flying Start, the airline’s charity partnership with Comic Relief.

The auction received hundreds of bids as people supported the cause, driving the price from its starting bid of £50 and surpassing its recommended retail price of £1,795 within twelve hours of launch.

The auction frenzy comes hot on the heels of the huge Cumber-fan interest in the April issue of High Life which featured the Sherlock star. The magazines have been selling on eBay for £50 and mentions of the story occurred every eight minutes on social media at the peak of the hype.

High Life’s editor, Kerry Smith said: “All the buzz around Benedict’s British Airways High Life shoot has prompted some very wild guesses about how much the coat would go for, but £5,010 is way beyond our expectations. We’re delighted it’s raised so much money – it will really make a difference to Flying Start and the children they work with.”

Flying Start is a global charity partnership between British Airways and Comic Relief, aiming to raise money to help children living disadvantaged lives in the UK and around the world.

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