The mentality of “make do and mend” seems to be having a resurgence. Perhaps this period of uncertainty has made us think about reus-ing or upcycling more than we used to. “Necessity is the mother of invention” after all. The charity shops in the high street are busier than ever as people have had time to sort through their belongings during lockdown and are shedding what they don’t need. Bar-gain hunters queue outside, ready for a sweep of the latest donations.
But the idea of the jumble trail is a new one this year. The idea is pretty much the concept of the “garage sale”. Get all your unwanted bits and pieces and lay them out, put a sign up and invite people to browse and buy. In this current climate there is strict adherence to social distancing and sanitising of course.
We saw a very busy event in July in Shepper-ton. Sunbury followed suit a couple of weeks later and have just done a second at the end of September. It has definitely been a success. The good weather has helped of course.
The range of goods for sale has been impres-sive. One mans junk is another mans treasure, so they say. There have been a lot of chil-dren’s clothes and games, push chairs, bric-a-brac, kitchenware etc. There have been cards, gifts and honey. A friend picked up an im-pressive naval navigational device at one event. I am not sure what he will ever use it for, but it shows the range of items!
Thanks is due to Friends of Shepperton who have tirelessly promoted the events in our area. But they could do with some more vol-unteers to help publicise venues and events more widely. Can you help? Send them a message if you can help out next time.
As with our working patterns changing and working from home is the new norm, perhaps this is the way forward on decluttering, all home based, easier to manage and fun as a way to meet your community.