Everyone at Jordan's Weeones would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Jane Steward, Typestart Limited and all of the Brigstock community for their continued support over the last few months.
Dealing with the unforeseen challenges caused by the Coronavirus pandemic has taken a significant toll on people and businesses around the world. We had to cancel all our events and fundraisers for the foreseeable future and, as a small charity, we were very concerned about the repercussions of that and whether or not we would be able to survive.
We have been extremely lucky to have received some fantastic support from Jane Steward, one of our Charity patrons and fundraisers, and her local community Brigstock during this difficult time. We asked Jane to send us a bit of background on how it all started and how things have progressed in the village over the last few months...Â
"Tomatoes, too many tomatoes, Every year I seem to grow way too many tomatoes so I usually put the spare ones outside to sell and raise a small amount for Jordan's Weeones. This year I decided, back in January, that I would go large and grow lots more and some flowers, and then go to car boot sales and hopefully raise a target of £500.
At the end of January I set about sowing several varieties of tomatoes, there were by this time a few reports of people becoming very ill with this new flu virus but nothing to suggest the magnitude of what was to come. Early March was spent potting tomatoes up to the growing realisation that there would be no car boot sales and we were entering a very serious situation with Coronavirus. I had hundreds of tomatoes so I put it out on our village information page that I had lots of tomatoes to sell for Jordans Weeones. Orders flooded in along with requests for cucumber, courgettes, beans, cabbage and broccoli! Lots of veggies were sown and more flowers potted. The irises needed splitting so these were potted too and joined the flowers on sale outside.
THEN Bernie contacted me, did I want some pots? Yes please! So I collected some and they then brought some lovely plant pots round and said I could sell them too. Similarly, my neighbour Nikki said she had some pots as well and a few other items I could sell which saw the start of the bric a brac stall!  I had a bit of a clear out of books and other bits to fill a table and the community of Brigstock took it from there! People were not only buying but donating items as well. Caroline Nall started the children’s table off with a donation of toys and all of a sudden the bric a brac took on a life of its own now having three tables! Caroline also kindly made notices and information cards so everyone could see what it was all about! If you ever need help with flyers or any other printed literature give Typestart Limited a shout! (The link to their Facebook page is at the bottom of this article).
With so many kind donations of goods keeping it running and ever changing, people take what they want and leave a donation for it. All I do is cover it up at night and unwrap it in the mornings, oh and pick up all the donations! People have donated plants for the plant stall, more tomatoes which also went like hot cakes.
Someone commented that tomatoes in this village were like loo roll in supermarkets!
Cucumber, courgette, peppers, chillies, beans, squash, pumpkins, mint, more flowers, Conker trees, more planters and pots - which got me onto the wooden boxes that sat like a neighbour said 'a giant jenga‘ on an old lorry in the field for years! These all sold well too.
The aim to raise £500 was met and passed. We zoomed past £1000, then £2000 and are now at over £2500 which is amazing!!
Anything left over on the bric a brac stall will be sold at car boot sales once they restart or donated to other small charities."
We are all so grateful and would like to reiterate our thanks to Jane and everyone that has either donated and/or purchased an item from the pop up shop or helped in anyway over the past few months!
"Jordan loved her Auntie Jane and spending time at the farm. She loved spending Boxing Day with the family and watching the hunt set off from the village square. Jordans love for her auntie and Brigstock has gone full circle with the village and auntie Jane rallying up and supporting the charity that is in her name supporting families that really need it. From the bottom of my heart I’d like to thank everyone involved in this amazing endeavour. 💜" Wayne, Jordan's Dad
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