Preparations are stepping up for a long-standing community event taking place next week which is of even greater importance this year.
Batchworth Sea Scouts have been running a spring and autumn jumble sale for more than 50 years at the organisation’s base in Riverside Drive, Rickmansworth.
The group will be holding a grand jumble sale on Saturday, March 23 which is again set to attract hundreds of bargain hunters from the area to help raise money to provide activities for the group's Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers, aged six to 18.
The sales have always provided a vital source of fundraising for the scouts, but they are now even more significant following the cancellation of this year’s Rickmansworth Canal Festival due to complications with asbestos buried underground.
Batchworth Sea Scouts group executive chairman Richard Patterson said: “As a registered charity the jumble sales are a crucial fundraising event for the group, and we are thankful to have an army of hard-working volunteers to organise and run them.
“Our scout headquarters building was completed in the 1960s, and is in need of modernisation and upgrades to meet demand and ensure we can provide scouting activities for our 150 or so young people for many more years to come; therefore fundraising is vital to secure the group's future.
“More recently we have run the Batchworth Arena during the Rickmansworth Canal Festival in May; this has enabled us to raise even more much needed funds.
“With the news that the canal festival will not be going ahead in 2024 we have a significant gap in our fundraising goals.
“This means our spring and autumn jumble sales are even more important, and we are working hard to make them a success, and attract as many visitors as possible.”
Next week’s events is again set to be supported by Eileen Cooke, who celebrates her 90th birthday this month and is still happily volunteering.
Eileen has been helping out at the jumble sales since 1985 and looks after the jewellery stall, her best discovery being a gold ring which raised more than £100.
The grand jumble sale starts at 10.30am on March 23 and teas and coffees will be available, along with a barbecue.
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