More than £11,000 was raised via a charity auction for Cambridgeshire Mind, the mental health charity, by Cambridge-based semiconductor IP company ARM.

The total has been match-funded by ARM, to make the final donation total £23,611.

The auction of almost 130 lots took place in November. All the lots were posted on ARM’s internal social networking service, with employees invited to submit bids.

Some of the items were handmade by ARM employees, including individually carved letters of the alphabet crafted from Italian stone (pictured).

Other items were acquired from local businesses, including meal vouchers, jewellery, sculptures and paintings donated by two local artists.

ARM even secured a morning meeting with Team Hayler, the Olympic dressage team.

Rebecca Hawker, learning and development specialist at ARM, said: “This is the second charity auction ARM has organised and we were thrilled to receive so many items from our employees and local businesses.

“We chose to support Mind in Cambridgeshire as mental health is such an important issue and the charity carries out crucial work with people in the local area.”

She added: “In the UK one in four people are currently experiencing a mental health problem. We want to encourage more people to think about their mental health and to feel able to ask for the help they need.”

Aly Anderson, CEO of Mind in Cambridgeshire said, “The team at ARM worked incredibly hard to secure so many fabulous items and we are truly overwhelmed by their support.

“Last year we provided direct support to more than 1,300 local people including many who were in crisis. This year we expect the demand for our services to be even higher. ARM’s support will enable us to continue to provide our much needed services to the people of Cambridgeshire. We would like to express our thanks to all the staff at ARM who contributed to make the auction such a success.”

If you would like to fundraise for Mind in Cambridgeshire, please contact Zoe Doherty at zoe.doherty@mindincambs.org.uk.