The Third Annual CATCH Jumble Sale

Saturday night – the jumble lies dormant.

CATCH held their third Annual Jumble Sale on Saturday, March 5th 2016, in Wincanton Memorial Hall. This event has rapidly become a popular fixture in the Wincanton calendar, and this year’s was on a considerably bigger scale than the previous two, hence the change of venue from the Balsam Centre to a much larger space.

We are pleased, and somewhat amazed, to be able to announce that the Sale has raised more than £600 to fund future CATCH activities. A huge debt of thanks is owed to everyone who donated so generously, to those who helped us to collect, move, store and sort the donations, and to everyone who turned up on the day to make the event such a stunning success.

The calm before the storm. CATCH members taking restorative cups of tea before opening the doors.

CATCH is involved with many exciting and interesting projects on the river, but we also have to spend a certain amount of money on very boring things, such as insurance and legal requirements for documentation.  In 2013 and 2014, we were largely able to avoid using grant monies or cash assets to pay for these and similar mundane items, as the money raised from our Jumble Sale has covered it. This year, we have raised much more than just the amount we need to pay our sundry bills, and the remainder will help us to pay for some more much-needed equipment for our future efforts.

Jumble sale in full swing.

The Jumble Sale, quite apart from being a financial success, has also been a huge publicity boost for CATCH, attracting attention from local press, other community groups, conservation groups in other areas and many others. We had at least one person visit us from as far afield as Trowbridge in Wiltshire, largely because he just likes going to jumble sales and there weren’t any others on in his local area. We were asked by several people when the next jumble sale would be held; although ours is only an annual event, we are happy to promote others held by other charities in the area.

Thanks to the astounding generosity of the residents of south Somerset, we closed the sale with over £600 of profit and still with an entire transit-van-full worth of jumble left over and some more besides! All of the unsold items will find a home with some charitable cause, or will be sold in bulk to raise further funds for us. It is even possible that we may be able to host another jumble sale later in the year. Watch this space!