At the last meeting of the Richmond & Kingston group we decided that for Climate Week we would try something new: a craft and cake stall right in the middle of Kingston's busy Market Square. As part of the Arctic campaign we had the polar bear suit, which is always a success, and the speech bubbles to take photographs of people. Having a craft stall seemed like a good idea to raise funds. For 2 weeks I busied myself (note to self, do not leave things to the last minute!!!) making Arctic creatures and other spring/Easter themed items, the shelves of our bookcases at home being gradually populated with polar bear egg cosies, little whales and narwhals, polar bear finger puppets and hair accessories. In the meantime my daughter hijacked a few knitted polar bears to create a video to advertise the event, which was published on our group's Facebook page and turned out to be quite fun both to make and to watch!
On Saturday we arranged all our crafts on the table (we made a suggested minimum donation sign) under the gazebo (bit of a job to put it together...) and Wendy provided sweets and Arctic-themed biscuits (I loved the walrus ones) which we decided to give out for free to children. Alexis donned the polar bear fur, which was an instant success, attracting kids and grown-ups alike. I managed the stall with my daughter whereas the other volunteers took signatures and photos. Although the square seemed less busy than usual, the bear was definitely a focal point - particularly as far as children were concerned - and we collected many signatures and took loads of photos of people with the bear and the 'I <3 Arctic' speech bubble. We also did well with our craft and cake stall, people seemed to like the Arctic creatures and the cakes and were fairly incredulous when we told them (with a big smile) they could have a biscuit or sweets for free (and I think that this in turn made them drop a few coins in our collection tin.... Greenpeace volunteers are irresistibly nice!!!). Although the main attraction was undoubtedly our bear, I think the craft/cake stall is an idea which is definitely worth pursuing or developing. As usual, we had great fun, both among ourselves and with the general public. I am looking forward to our next event.
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