THE RECENT 'GOING FOR A SONG' jumble sale at St Paul's Community Centre, Wimbledon over-reached its target of £500, raising enough money to pay for the four rising star soloists at the Choir's 9th December concert - with £57.34 left over. Net profit was £657.30, a significant increase on takings from the previous sale.
Success was largely due to better publicity - including flyers and online notices in strategic places. Choir website manager Gillian Smith's post on Gumtree had more than 200 hits, and one woman who'd travelled from Teddington had seen our advertisement “on the wonderful SW London Radio Jackie website" (www.radiojackie.com). The first punters started queuing soon after 11am, 90 minutes before opening time, and by 1pm, queues were stretching far along the pavement, in heavy rain.
However whether the amount raised was enough to make future jumble sales (and the huge effort of organisation, set up, sorting and selling) worthwhile is still in the balance. "The one sadness was the disappointing number of choir members who turned out to help sell," commented Angela. "Thank goodness for five friends of members, all of them were real pros.
"But we also feel the sales serve a social need...we see many of the the same people each time, they’re like friends!
For more information on the 9th December Concert, see our Concert & Events page. You can book tickets here.