As an example of how banks continue to sponsor good causes despite having the excuse to focus on their own affairs, a charity art auction, sponsored by US-based Northern Trust and held in London recently, has raised a total of £457,450.

The event was called Art for Africa, described by Northern Trust as the first auction of contemporary South African and British art to take place at Sotheby’s. The money will be sent to help orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa.

The auction featured 38 works of art by artists such as Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley and Marc Quinn from the UK and William Kentridge, Marlene Dumas and Beezy Bailey from South Africa.

The money was sent to the Africa Foundation, and their joint beneficiary, Ikamva Labantu. The Africa Foundation funds and manages projects in education, healthcare, and income generation for communities in conservation areas in South Africa, with a specific focus on children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Ikamva Labantu, a charity based in Cape Town, builds and supports crèches, schools, senior and youth centres, programmes for the disabled, skills training and building initiatives in disadvantaged communities.

Sotheby’s said the results of the auction came “comfortably” within expectations. The first work to go under the hammer, Judith Mason’s "Walking around the world: Daljosaphat, Paarl, South Africa", established a new record for the artist when it sold for £5,500 against an estimate of £4,000-5,000.