Winchelsea Book Fair 2010 and 2012
In aid of local and national charities
Thank You! Thank You!
The 2012 Book Fair is now over and I am sure you would like to know how we did. We will not know the final figure for little while as a few post-event sales are in progress, but the total is expected to be approximately £3500. This is a fantastic result, though lower than 2010. We believe that this was mainly as a result of relatively low receipts from second-hand book dealers - no doubt a reflection of the state of the economy in general and the second-hand book trade in particular.
A huge number of volunteers helped in this undertaking, and the Book Fair team have been overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people in contributing their time and effort, and their books! These include the many individuals who donated books, the teams who collected and stored books, and the volunteers who shifted literally tons of books from storage areas to the New Hall and back again afterwards. The latter could not have been done without the help of transport and manpower provided by the National Trust (Dave Lewis) and the League of Friends (Chris Fairman). Thanks also to those who provided marketing for the event, with flyers, posters, contacts with the press and websites, and with the trade - special thanks go to Tony Mullholland for all his contributions in this regard and many other areas in which he helped us.
Once in the New Hall the books had to be filtered and sorted by volunteers into subjects, and for paperbacks into author order (thanks especially to Jean Owen for taking on this task once again!). Thanks also to Howard Norton and David Page for organising and managing the "Specials" and their many other contributions to this project. Again, dozens helped in this preliminary work leading up to the Book Fair itself. Then it was down to the two days of the event to meet the public and make the sales, and some 30 or so helpers provided the sales team for the various sections each day.
Finally, late on Saturday, we closed the event and started the clear-up process, returning the unsold trays of books to stores and providing books to other charities. On the day these included books provided to Bohemia Church book sale, Sue Ryder, Macmillian Nurses and a church book fair in Hove. A substantial quantity of books have been retained for the League of Friends, who will sell these at their Christmas book sale in Rye, with another large quantity (all the paperback fiction) held for a possible future sale in aid of St Thomas' Church, Winchelsea. Of the remaining books, the majority are going to the specialist book charity, BookDonors, in Selkirk, Scotland, and a small amount being collected by Oxfam Books.
Once we have the final figures we will distribute all the funds to the charities nominated in our original plans for the event - principally the League of Friends (for the hospital), the New Hall Society (which no doubt will go to towards their fund-raising for improvements to Hall insulation), and to the Friends of the Ancient Monuments (for use in the planned repairs to the Pipewell Gate). Many thanks again - the Book Fair would have been impossible without your help! Best regards - the Winchelsea Book Fair Committee
The committee who organized the 2012 event (John Priestley, Chris Fairman, Mike de Smith, Tony Davis and Howard Norton) would like to say "thank you, thank you so much !!" to everyone who helped well beyond our wildest expectations by: donating books, sorting books, providing facilities, promoting the event, moving all the boxes and tables around before, during and after the event, setting up and clearing up, opening and closing the event, and of course, selling the books over the two days themselves. In total there are more than 40, including: Dave Lewis (NT), Tony Mulholland, Peter & Theresa McMullin, Margaret Wright, Sheila Priestley, Philip & Jo Sidders, Sue & Tony Davis, Wilma van Straten, David Page, John & Bren Dunk, Chris de Smith, Cam & Peta Cameron-Clarke, Robert & Sheila Holland, Martin & Jean Owen, Annie Spencer, Roger & Tina Neaves, Sue Moore, Deborah Rodley, Stuart & Jane Elms, Denny Nicol, Richard Feast, Patricia Dawes, Tessa Potts, Ann Coxon, Anne Simpson, June Hyson, Penny Evans, Mike Melvin; plus of course our many supporters, including especially: Eric Bourne and Martyn Stubbs - we hope we haven’t missed anyone!
Books remaining unsold at the end of the event are destined for other charities who will further benefit from the generosity and hard work put in. These include:
League of Friends of Rye Memorial Care Centre; MacMillan Nurses; Oxfam Books; Bohemia Book Fayre, for Pulse charity; Book Donors (specialist book charity in Selkirk); Rye Museum; and more ...
email: info@winchelsea.com
