Back by popular demand, Calverley will once again be holding a village-wide garage sale event on Saturday, 28th April, writes Danni Clayton.
The event, which is usually organised by the two local primary schools, Calverley Parkside and Calverley CofE, is this year being taken over by Calverley Village Guide Association in an attempt to raise much-needed funds to repair their Guide Hut and be able to keep on running Rainbows, Brownies and Guides for girls aged five to 15 in Calverley.
Saturday 28 April will see over a hundred residents opening up their garages, gardens and driveways to sell a whole host of pre-loved items, from bikes to clothes, toys to furniture and electrical goods; as well as home-made crafts, baked goods and much, much more.
Rainbows, Brownies and Guides from Calverley are hoping to use the event to be able to fundraise enough to save the over 100 year old Guide Hut on Blackett Street which is in desperate need of repair and renovation.
A wooden structure set within a conservation area, currently there are five units using the hut for weekly guiding activities – Rainbows (5-7 years old), Brownies (7-10 years old) and Guides (10-15 years old). Over the past 100 years, it is estimated that over 3,000 girls and young woman have been a part of Guiding within Calverley.
Pauline Barker, one of the trustees for the Calverley Village Guide Association, said:
“As a self-funding group with our own Guide Hut, we actively seek funding to continue running and also fundraise ourselves, hence organising the Calverley Spring Clean: Garage Sale 2018.
“Although we have managed to raise amounts over the years to make small repairs and continue running weekly activities for girls, we now need to undertake a major refurbishment of the hut which requires funding outside of our usual efforts.
“We are proud of our community history and Guiding heritage, as the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK empowering nearly half a million girls to be their best and face the challenges of being a girl in the 21st century, and would like to continue providing guiding in Calverley for the next 100 years.
“Therefore we are looking to engage our community, local business and organisations, and local people running stalls at this event, getting out in their gardens and on the streets, talking to neighbours, earning a bit of money and having fun! all for a worthy cause.
“Spring is the time we all traditionally clean up and clear out, and this event is incredibly easy to take part in. There’s no loading up the car to travel to a car boot sale or tip, and the items are being recycled to new homes, not going to landfill. We also have arrangements with charities to pick up any unsold and unwanted items at the end of the day. So please come along and support what promises to be another fantastic day, and help us to continue to keep guiding within Calverley.”
To find out more about the event, become a sponsor, or hold a stall, please email: calverleyspringclean@gmail.com find us on Facebook: Calverley Spring Clean, or follow us on Twitter: @calverleyspring.
To make a donation to Calverley Village Guide Association visit our Justgiving page.