13th August 2006 - Car Boot Sale, West ParleyLast month, Monica, Martin and Annette Courtney held a car boot sale to raise money for the charity, and to increase awareness of the charity and organ donation. They had a really successful day and raised a fantastic £220.25!!
Here is Monica's account of the day: This was our first time as sellers; we have spent many hours searching for bargains over the years, so we were up for the challenge to raise lots of money for Daniel’s charity. Annette and I had spent all day Saturday preparing and laminating photographs, also slips to give out to those interested in the web site. The photographs we posted on the car. Martin is still trying to get the tape marks off.
It was rather dull as we set out at 07.00, with our car loaded to the brim with almost everything but the kitchen sink. Annette and I had to use her car, no room for us in ours. Big mistake: The tables had been packed first due to their size. Therefore, all the boxes had to be removed before they could be set up. One was borrowed proving difficult to put together. “Vultures” by the way of “dealers” descended like a pack of wolves on our boxes almost before they had been removed from the boot. Having been asked politely to go away and come back in 10 mins, they hovered and one even insisted on helping Martin put one of the tables together. I had previously been warned that this would happen, but NO, it would not happen to US, Ha!!!. Once they got near the boxes, having been asked several times to wait, they dived in with no respect for fragile items neatly wrapped in tissue paper. They just carried on regardless. However, they did purchase some “special items” and paid what we thought was a good price. Once we got ourselves organised trade was very brisk and people were not bartering for the better quality goods, obviously we were not asking enough for them. Spirits were not dampened at all with the short showers, but the wind kept blowing light things off the tables. We handed out the Organ Donation leaflets to those who seemed interested and asked for those with internet access to log on to www.makingitbetter.org.uk. Many said they would also shop on line. We had a long chat with a couple from Canada who were very interested. On two occasions I was quite humbled. Two young boys came up and gave me £1 for the charity. I had given them a couple of balloons and pens. Another lady gave me a further £1 without making a purchase. We made over £170. The icing on the cake was winning the £50 Charity Prize. A very rewarding experience, which will have to be repeated especially as there is still another car boot full of “stuff” large and small, stored in Annette’s dinning room and garage so another sale is a MUST. Watch this space. Annette wrote the following on our forum: Well we did it! the car boot sale I mean. The weather wasn't sunny, a bit overcast in fact, but the little showers didn't dampen our spirits. The dealers were there in force and were very kind in "helping" us to unload the boot! We did well with a good start, a brief lull in which we had our cup of tea and then back into it full pelt. By 11.30 we were exhausted and the rain was starting so we decided to pack up, we made a few last minute sales and departed the dusty, windy field. We made £170.25 and we were awarded the door prize for charity of the week making the total £220.25, not bad for a morning's work.  
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