Now That’s What I Call Making a Difference - Woodbridge 41 Club Celebrate £1,000,000 Milestone
The Mayor of Woodbridge joined 41 Club members and volunteers at the Woodbridge 41 Club Charity Christmas Card Shop to celebrate an impressive milestone in November, having raised £1,000,000 for charity.
This money has been raised over the past 31 years through the sale of Christmas cards in a variety of pop-up shops in Woodbridge town centre. This year the shop was in the old HSBC bank premises in Woodbridge and was open for 8 weeks before Christmas.
During the 31 years the shop has supported over 50 charities ranging from large national charities such as Barnardos and RNLI to local charities including Suffolk Punch Trust, EACH, Just 42 and many others.
Roger Parker has been managing the popular shop, since 1993. “I’m very proud that we have raised £1 million. It’s something I’ve had in my sights and been talking about for 15 years!”
“I enjoy working with so many different charities, both big and small. There are some wonderful causes out there and because we have very few running costs, almost the entire turnover goes to them.”
“It’s a big team effort running the shop and I’m very grateful to all the volunteers who help in the shop, some of whom have been involved for thirty years.”
“Over the years many landlords and agents have been kind enough to let us use their empty premises. As a result, we have been found in many of the shops in Woodbridge plus St Mary’s Church Centre and the library.”
“We’re also very lucky to have lots of regular customers who come back year after year. I think it’s a bit of a game for them, tracking us down and working out which empty shop we’ve taken over!”