A signed rugby boot belonging to All Black ace Dan Carter has raised $1000 for charity.

The boot was discovered in a bag dropped off at Orewa's Hospice store for its annual Give It Up campaign, and was later auctioned on Trade Me.

This morning it sold to bidder willie_20 whose winning bid held since last Saturday and was $100 more than the next biggest offer.

Earlier today it was revealed that the mystery donor of Carter's custom-made boot was Target TV host Brooke Howard-Smith.

Hospice had been on a Cinderella-type hunt to uncover the good Samaritan responsible for the kind donation and after a week or so of biting his tongue, Howard-Smith revealed himself as the donor.

However, he was quick to point out it was Carter's generosity, not his.

"He's one of the best of the good bastards," Howard-Smith said.

The boot was originally given away by Carter to raise money for Christchurch after the earthquakes but because of time constraints, never made it to auction.

Howard-Smith said he had been waiting for a good cause and the shoe fitted perfectly with Hospice.

"Most people dealing with life-threatening illness charities will run into [Hospice] and they're incredible," he said.

The second annual Give It Up for Hospice campaign finishes on August 31.

Visit www.giveitup.co.nz for more details.

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- © Fairfax NZ News