Theocs Craft Supplies Fundraising

I've been running craft fayres in Tewkesbury for approx 3-4 years and have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I took over from a lady that wanted to concentrate on the shop that she runs with her husband.

I’ve had a good response from customers for selling haberdashery and knitting supplies as there is nowhere in Tewkesbury that sells such products.  They’ve come back time & time again for the supplies that they require……..

In the meantime (since middle of February 2024) there was a post on Facebook by someone who wanted to remain anonymous saying that Tewkesbury could do with an Arts and Crafts shop in town.  I commented on this post saying that I sell a limited amount of knitting & haberdashery supplies and also put the link to my Facebook page – the member count went from 39 to 107 in a matter of a few days. 

I then did a separate post letting others know about my Facebook page and also put the link to the page as well.  A couple of days later I had a phone call from a lady to say that she would be retiring along with her husband from their business so the shop would be available to rent from April onwards and would be a really good place to have an Arts & Crafts shop.  This lady knows me from the craft fayres at the Town Hall hence the phone call.  I met the necessary people concerned for taking on the shop and they are happy for me to take it on and they know me personally as well as I worked with one of them many years ago.  The shop will be on a 3 monthly short term lease and will be one month’s rent in advance plus just £ for electric each month.

I have suppliers lined up ready to help out along the way, as well as another lady that is retiring from being a seamstress and she is selling her sewing thread stand to me along with the remainder of the Guttermann sewing threads which I know will be welcomed in the shop.  I have a minimum amount of stock due to not have the space to store more – having the shop would give me the chance to stock a lot more selection of goods for the local crafters.

There are at least a couple of knit & natter groups locally that I know would come in and buy wool, buttons & accessories as they have from the craft fayres.   I’m going to get in paints, brushes, artist pads, canvasses, paint trays etc for the Art Society that meet once a week in town for painting.  There also cross stitch and embroidery lovers in Tewkesbury that I know will be in to buy their cottons and material, either that or a new complete kit that they would like to do for a challenge.

Other supplies would include Resin, moulds, plus accessories, along with scrapbooking and card making supplies, knitting patterns, cross stitch patterns, haberdashery supplies, sewing patterns, fat quarters, artist pencils, artist colouring pencils, artist pads, coloured card and paper, glue (pva/pritt stick) plus much more.

I plan on running workshops for those that would like to learn a new craft, these will be open to adults and children alike and will be charged at approx. £15/£20 depending on the material costs.  These will be held once a week on a Thursday – a 2 hour session in the morning and a 2 hour session in the afternoon.  These are currently being working on with all the costing’s for each craft fayre being logged in a spread sheet on laptop.  I do have help from two of my stallholders, one of which is really eager to get going on running some of the workshops herself.  She has already designed a logo for the business which I really love.

There will be workshops in the school holidays for the kids to attend, along with seasonal workshops such as Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, Mothers Day and Fathers Day too.

Everything is in place ready to go - shop from April, suppliers, supplies ready to order, customers lined up ready as I've had enquiries through messenger (facebook) already. 

The money raised will help me pay the deposit and first couple of months rent, plus get in the rest of the stock that I need to fill the shop ready for customers to buy from me.......

Here are  four of the projects that I've done - I also make cross stitched items to order for special occasions and this will also be advertised/on offer in the shop........