Jayne Bostock has been donating plants to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trusts South Notts Local Group Spring Fair for the last 3 years and in the months leading up to the fair she had plants all over the place (last year she counted the plants, as a matter of interest, and there were over a hundred!).  So when it became apparent, this year, that the fair would be cancelled, she had to think of some way to find homes for the plants and selling them for donations at the end of the drive seemed an obvious thing to do, as there were so many people passing by on their walks and with garden centres closed people were desperate for plants.

The first day Jayne put plants out went very well, with people telephoning friends and family to come and have a look. It made her realise that there was definitely a market for anything plant-wise, and if she didn't have something someone wanted, she'd go and get a root from a pot in her garden. So, she sowed extra seeds and since mid-April had put out plants on 6 more occasions with a board explaining what the sale was for and asking for donations. 

Jayne says "Generally I set up the stall for 11am and leave it up until early evening.  Labelling pots proved helpful, and used ice-cream lolly sticks, torn up bits of seed packets, having run out of labels. In addition at each sale I displayed a running total of what had been donated so far, what was for sale that day and what would be coming soon.  Putting a chalk board at the end of the drive the day before announcing the sale was also helpful plus adverts on the local social media page.  People started to keep an eye out and I got regular customers which was lovely.

The most successful day was the 9th June, collecting £102, because I'd finally got the majority of the bedding plants big enough to sell. I'd also been given some quality perennials by someone nearby who I have now discovered also donated plants to the Trust's Fair but having very little 'footfall' passing got in touch with me. 

Helping to raise funds for the Trust, who like other charities have missed out on valuable fund-raising opportunities this year, has been immensely rewarding. The extra knowledge gained from planting the volume of seeds has been invaluable and to top it all, meeting and speaking to people and making acquaintances, maybe even friends through a shared enthusiastic interest in gardening and wildlife and the greater sense of community I hope has come from all this is priceless."

In total Jayne has raised £313, this along with £110 raised by Dennis Cox who had a similar idea in Keyworth, pretty much matches the sort of money made from plant sales at the Spring Fair, a tremendous achievement and our thanks go out to both of them.