Coffee Mornings and Raffle Prizes
It’s strange how something that happened many moons ago can suddenly be remembered. Mother was involved with the Mothers’ Union at the local church and every two or three months there would be a coffee morning, in order to raise funds for something - the new something - which was critical within the church. It could be new kneelers or that the organ needed repair and on one occasion the major problem which necessitated a new roof. Obviously a coffee morning wouldn’t solve the money problems but at least everyone felt that they were making some sort of contribution.
There were always raffle prizes and although the majority of these could be the bubble bath or manicure kits or possibly an expensive box of chocolates, there always had to be at least one prize which encouraged everyone to put their hands in their pockets and buy as many raffle tickets as possible. Retailers were contacted from around the country, and mother who was the secretary, spent many hours writing to retailers asking them to donate a prize. She was obviously quite a natural at this because this was happening some fifty years ago and she managed to acquire all sorts of items. She continued the letter writing throughout the year so that there was always a steady stream of prizes she could count on. One time she managed to win a coach trip for two for a week in Bournemouth which included all the accommodation, full board and fifty pounds spending money. Another memorable prize was from a TV Rental Norwich shop who promised a television which would be delivered via a local branch and the full rent paid for one year. If the winners wanted to continue to rent the television after the first year they could, and at a greatly reduced rent.
So the coffee mornings came which was combined with a small “bring-and-buy” section which was a really good way of recycling unwanted gifts. Everyone always hoped that they had brought unidentifiable items so as not to hurt any feelings of anyone who recognised an item as one given as a birthday or Christmas present. There were always jars of homemade jam or marmalade and a good selection of homemade cakes. The high spot though was the calling out of the numbers of the winning raffle tickets. The TV Rental television donated by the showroom in Norwich was a great attraction and so was the coach holiday. The two firms who had donated these prizes actually became winners themselves as the local newspaper ran the story about the prizes and the companies received several new enquiries together with write-ups in their own local area. These were proof that one good turn given receives another as an unexpected reward.