On April 18, 2026, the WPC Club charity auction turned an afternoon at PIM into something that collectors, exhibitors, and visitors at Parco Culturale Le Serre in Grugliasco will not easily forget. Twenty-five lots went under the hammer over the course of a few hours, and when the session closed, €2,000 had been pledged to cancer research.
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A Charity Auction at the Heart of PIM 2026
The charity auction is one of the defining elements of the Phonecards International Meeting. It is not a side event: it is built into the programme as a moment that demonstrates what a community of collectors can accomplish when it decides to act beyond the boundaries of the hobby itself.
At PIM 2026, the auction took place on the afternoon of April 18 at Parco Culturale Le Serre in Grugliasco. Collectors and exhibitors who had spent the morning at the stands gathered for a live bidding session where items donated by the phonecard community and by an outside partner went to the highest bidder. All proceeds were committed in full to a charitable beneficiary chosen for its significance to the host region.
The beneficiary for PIM 2026 was the Fondazione Piemontese per la Ricerca sul Cancro ETS, the Piedmont-based foundation that supports oncology research at the Istituto di Candiolo — IRCCS, one of Italy’s leading cancer research centres. Its mission is to fund research that can improve outcomes for cancer patients, relying on donations and community support. For a collectors’ meeting rooted in Turin and the surrounding area, choosing a local foundation with national significance resonated with everyone in the room.
The WPC Club structured the auction around one clear principle: everything raised goes directly to the beneficiary, with no deductions for costs or commissions.
The Star Lot — The Kenan Yildiz Juventus Shirt
Among the donated items, one stood apart. Juventus FC made available the HOME shirt for season 2025/26, personally autographed by Kenan Yildiz — the Turkish international midfielder who wears number 10 for Juventus and has become one of the most recognizable players in Italian football.
The jersey arrived with clear documentation of the autograph, with photographs of both front and back of the shirt and Yildiz’s original signature. Bidding opened at a figure that reflected the item’s significance and climbed steadily through a succession of offers. The atmosphere in the room shifted: what had been the quiet focus of a collectors’ meeting gave way to something closer to genuine excitement. People who had been showing each other phonecards across tables put them down to watch. Exhibitors stepped away from their stands. Each increment in the bid drew a reaction from the crowd.
The final bid set a new record for the PIM charity auction. That Juventus FC chose to support the WPC Club initiative confirmed something the club had hoped to demonstrate: the Phonecards International Meeting has a profile and a reach that extends well beyond the phonecard world.
Twenty-Four Lots from the Phonecard Community
Beyond the star lot, the catalogue was built entirely from contributions by collectors and exhibitors present at PIM 2026. Twenty-four lots were donated freely — not clearance material, but pieces chosen specifically to support the initiative.
The lots covered the full range of what makes phonecard collecting a genuine discipline: rare Italian issues, international series from multiple decades and countries, themed collections built around specific operators or historical periods, and cards tied to particular moments in telecommunications history. Several collectors donated items that would have been desirable in any ordinary exchange — pieces they chose to give rather than to sell.
Among the community lots were cards connected to significant periods in Italian telephony history, including early issues from the first decade of public phonecard distribution and sets from the post-liberalisation era. Some came with personal notes from the donating collector. In each case, the donation reflected a deliberate choice to contribute something meaningful, not something disposable.
Bidders approached each lot with the same attention they bring to any acquisition: evaluating origin, condition, rarity, theme. The overlap between charitable motivation and collector instinct produced competitive, good-natured bidding from the start of the session to its close.
Vito Gioia — Auctioneer
Running a live auction inside a collectors’ meeting requires someone who can command a room, read its energy, and create an atmosphere in which first-time bidders feel as comfortable as experienced collectors. Vito Gioia volunteered to conduct the charity session as auctioneer, and he delivered exactly that.
Vito presented each lot with precision and warmth, moving the session forward without losing momentum. He kept pace through the community lots and held the room through the escalating bids for the Juventus shirt, closing on a result that exceeded expectations.
The WPC Club thanks Vito for his extraordinary contribution. The session worked because he made it work.
€2,000 for Cancer Research — The Donation Confirmed
The full amount raised by the WPC Club charity auction — €2,000 — was transferred to the Fondazione Piemontese per la Ricerca sul Cancro ETS on April 20, 2026, two days after the auction closed.
The transfer was executed by the Worldwide Phonecards Collectors Club via a SEPA instant bank transfer through Crédit Agricole. The reference reads: “Asta di beneficenza del 18 aprile 2026 durante evento PIM — Phonecards.” The bank confirmed the status as paid and the execution as instantaneous. The WPC Club covered the 1,00 € bank commission separately, so that every euro raised at the auction reached the foundation directly.
The Fondazione Piemontese per la Ricerca sul Cancro ETS supports scientific research at the Istituto di Candiolo — IRCCS, funding the work of oncologists and researchers developing more effective treatments for cancer patients. It operates through donations and community support, independently of public funding cycles. The €2,000 from PIM 2026 adds to the foundation’s resources and to a growing record of community-driven support for cancer research in Piedmont.
Publishing the bank transfer is part of how the WPC Club manages its charitable commitments. Every person who donated a lot, placed a bid, or attended PIM 2026 can verify that the money raised reached its destination in full.
An Annual Commitment
The WPC Club charity auction is a permanent fixture of the Phonecards International Meeting. The model is simple: items donated freely by the community and by partners, auctioned to collectors and visitors, with everything raised going directly to a single beneficiary — without deductions, conditions, or percentages retained.
The WPC Club thanks every collector, exhibitor, and visitor who contributed to the PIM 2026 charity auction — whether by donating a lot, placing a bid, or simply being present. A particular thank you goes to Juventus FC for their extraordinary generosity.
