Primary Times - the definitive what’s on and where to go family guide of activities and events for children of primary school age. Things to do with your kids during the school holidays including arts and craft activities, music and theatre for children, parties, competitions, days out, and family attractions along with term time drama schools, dance classes, after school clubs and sports activities. Things to do at a place near you!
Pumpkin Appeal Nets 1,426 Pumpkins for Animal Sanctuary
When Tina, the owner of The Old Curiosity Bookshop - the largest independent second-hand bookshop in the East Midlands stocking over 50,000 individual titles - posted on Facebook that she was collecting pumpkins post-Halloween for an animal sanctuary, no-one would have believed the response.
Says Tina, “My friend Rachel runs Home in the Hills Animal Sanctuary and on one of her recent visits was saying how commercial pig food has shot up in price by almost £60 per half tonne. As her 11 pigs get through a half tonne every four to six weeks this was having quite an adverse impact. She mentioned that she was going to speak to her fruit and vegetable supplier to see if he could strike a deal with the people at the wholesalers enabling her to buy any spare pumpkins they had, post-Halloween, at a much reduced price. That conversation gave me an idea!
“I wrote on our bookshop blackboard that I was collecting pumpkins to help an animal sanctuary with their soaring animal feed bills and shared the photo of the blackboard request on Facebook. The response was, well, astounding.”
Tina and Rachel were asked to appear on BBC Radio Leicester talking about the appeal and the reasons for it. Tina also appeared on ITV News and her Facebook post went viral with over 34,000 likes, comments, shares and impressions. Adds Tina, “We received 1,426 pumpkins in total as well as allotment donations of apples, red cabbage and marrow and some financial donations too from people located too far away to drop off their donations in Hathern. The response has been incredible.”
Rachel from Home in the Hills Animal Sanctuary added, “All I can say is thank you. I think, conservatively the pumpkin donation will save us between £200 and £350 in commercial pig food costs. More people are aware of our work because of Tina’s Facebook posts and it’s been an absolute joy to meet so many donors and share photos with them and their children of the pigs enjoying their pumpkins! I can’t thank Tina enough for all she has done and we’re already talking about a Festive Fruit and Veg Fundraiser in December too!”
www.oldcuriositybookshop.co.uk
www.facebook.com/HomeintheHillsAnimalSanctuary