**IMAGERY & TIME LAPSE VIDEO AVAILABLE**

Choc celebrity heads cause a sweet stir for a good cause!
Aussie favourite Darrell Lea backs bilbies in a Father's Day auction with a twist

Embargoed until 9am 2 September 2011, Sydney, Australia: Ever imagined what it would be like to take home one of your favourite celebs? This Father's Day, Darrell Lea is giving Aussies the opportunity to do just that while raising money for the Save the Bilby Fund.

Much loved comedian and 7PM Project presenter, Dave Hughes; TODAY Show host, Karl Stefanovic; and celebrated food critic, MasterChef judge Matt Preston have been immortalised in one-of-a-kind, life-size Darrell Lea chocolate head sculptures. World-champion sculptor, Kenji Ogawa, crafted each head in just two days from 60kg blocks of Darrell Lea chocolate specially created by Darrell Lea's Master Confectioner – Mark Tubman.

Kenji Ogawa, an internationally acclaimed sculptor, whose previous projects include a 10 tonne ice polar bear, said: "Lifelike faces are challenging to sculpt, particularly when it comes to accurately capturing the unique features of an individual. But, it is also highly rewarding and I loved the experience of working with chocolate to create these very unique pieces of art. I did however, have to stop myself from eating the shavings!"

Kenji and Darrell Lea have combined their artisan approaches to craft the heads to raise money for the Save the Bilby Fund. The bilby is one of Australia's most endangered species, with only 600 left in the wild. The chocolate sculptures will be awarded to the highest bidders in an eBay charity auction, with all proceeds going to the Save the Bilby Fund in support of Save the Bilby Day, 11 September 2011.

Scott Rylands from Darrell Lea said, "We've been supporting the Save the Bilby Fund since its inception with sales of chocolate bilbies, which are a very popular treat in store and have raised more than $400,000. This year we wanted to create a stir and raise awareness of this worthwhile cause that is very near and dear to our hearts."

For more information and to bid on your favourite head and raise money for the Save the Bilby Fund please visit, http://www.savethebilbyfund.com For more information on Darrell Lea visit www.dlea.com.au

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For more information, imagery or a time-lapse video of the creation of the sculptures, please contact DEC PR:
Sarah-Ann Britain or Jill Notzon
02 8014 5033 / 0415 477 537 / 0406 063 976
dlea@decpr.com.au

About Darrell Lea
Darrell Lea was established in 1927 and is privately owned by the Lea family. The company has grown over the years to become Australia's largest privately owned confectionery manufacturer and retailer, employing over 1000 people. Darrell Lea's confectioners pride themselves on fresh quality treats including soft eating liquorice and Rocklea Road, just two of the unique products it has perfected since first being introduced in the 1950s.

For more information on Darrell Lea, visit www.dlea.com.au

About Save the Bilby Fund
Save the Bilby Fund was set up by conservationists Frank Manthey and Peter McRae in 1999 to raise money to help put a stop to the steady decline of Australia's bilbies.

Bilbies, or rabbit-eared bandicoots, were common in many different habitats throughout Australia until European settlement. Hunting by dingoes, foxes and feral cats has meant that bilby populations now only occur in the isolated arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. It is estimated that there are currently only 600 remaining in the wild.

Save the Bilby Fund supports the three main aims of the National Recovery Plan for bilbies:
• to support research into the biology and ecology of the species to identify the reasons for population and distribution decline
• to direct management efforts towards addressing threatening processes
• to re-establish populations, based on the biological knowledge gained through the research.

For more information on Save the Bilby Fund, visit www.savethebilbyfund.com

About Kenji Ogawa
Kenji is a Japanese born and trained, mad ice sculptor who has been competing and exhibiting since 1986 in countries such as: Japan, China, Alaska, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Italy, France and Finland. He has also competed in the Lillehammer, Nagano and Torino Winter Olympics and is still competing today.

Since 1990 Kenji has worked on many humanitarian projects such as: the fall of the Berlin wall, Persian Gulf peace message, 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Mahatma Gandhi, WWF and free Tibet. Kenji is passionate about pushing the boundaries with challenging work.