Elite 11+ shopping and chat thread

locarr

Afternoon ALL!

Ungnome

Hi all,


Occasional lurker here looking for some advice :j


Last year I fundraised and purchased over 150 presents for a local event where they open their doors on Christmas day for local people who would otherwise be alone on the day. They provide Christmas dinner, company, a raffle etc. I spoke to someone last year who told me they was fundraising etc for this year, whilst family live in the area I don’t so I didn’t think much more of it. Until speaking to the organiser today who asked if I could help as they have the money but no presents! :mad:

I’m slightly stumped on how to help as I don’t have the luxury of living near any of the bargain shops I purchased most things from last year. Most shops in my area close at 17:30 and I finish work at 17:00. I don’t get back to the event area until Christmas Eve and will be dropping presents off to friends and family this day.


So my question is where or how can I get my hands on some cheap presents when I’m limited to small high street stores on my lunch break. I’ll be going to T’s when I finish work today as they have some reduced socks online so I’m hoping this will be instore also. I’m aware my hands are rather tied in terms of what I can do this short notice but I do want to try and get something as the only people who will lose if I don’t are the ones attending the event and I think it would be such a shame. As an example last year I was fundraising as I was buying so started with small, budget presents then used the rest as I raised it. By the time Christmas day arrived everyone had about five presents each in a bag – Christmas themed mug, socks, tin of biscuits, box of chocolates and a toiletry set.



Any help would be hugely appreciated!

Ungnome

I should probably add that I know there are charity forums on here but I'm not looking for fundraising advice just on where to source the cheap gifts, and where/who better to ask than the Elite! :rotfl:

LEJC

Ungnome....I'm unsure what you mean by only using high street shops...but if you have wilkinsons,poundland or places similar you may be able to get some reasonable selections in places like that that do not cost too much....

otherwise look for the 3 for 2 deals etc in supermarkets...but you know that anyway.

You could always ask the retailers if they are able to contribute anything to the cause by way of gifting if you have details of the charitable thing that you are helping with...many years ago when my children were small we raised funding that way for our local playgroup and businesses were more than happy to make donations which we were then able to raffle.

good luck with your cause....it sounds very good what you are hoping to do,

Serendipitious

Ungnome wrote: »

Hi all,


Occasional lurker here looking for some advice :j


Last year I fundraised and purchased over 150 presents for a local event where they open their doors on Christmas day for local people who would otherwise be alone on the day. They provide Christmas dinner, company, a raffle etc. I spoke to someone last year who told me they was fundraising etc for this year, whilst family live in the area I don’t so I didn’t think much more of it. Until speaking to the organiser today who asked if I could help as they have the money but no presents! :mad:

I’m slightly stumped on how to help as I don’t have the luxury of living near any of the bargain shops I purchased most things from last year. Most shops in my area close at 17:30 and I finish work at 17:00. I don’t get back to the event area until Christmas Eve and will be dropping presents off to friends and family this day.


So my question is where or how can I get my hands on some cheap presents when I’m limited to small high street stores on my lunch break. I’ll be going to T’s when I finish work today as they have some reduced socks online so I’m hoping this will be instore also. I’m aware my hands are rather tied in terms of what I can do this short notice but I do want to try and get something as the only people who will lose if I don’t are the ones attending the event and I think it would be such a shame. As an example last year I was fundraising as I was buying so started with small, budget presents then used the rest as I raised it. By the time Christmas day arrived everyone had about five presents each in a bag – Christmas themed mug, socks, tin of biscuits, box of chocolates and a toiletry set.



Any help would be hugely appreciated!

Well done for last year!

I'd keep it very simple and, if budget allows £5 per head, perhaps just go for the tubs of QS this year, mainly because of the lack of time.

Also if it is the same people who attend this event this year, they will appreciate a slightly different approach. A tub of sweets is something sizeable to take away with them, and it will last a while.

Maybe you could even negotiate a volume discount with T's?

ETA And arrange for these to be collected from a store that is more local to the venue.

bargainqueen8

Ungnome wrote: »

Hi all,


Occasional lurker here looking for some advice :j


Last year I fundraised and purchased over 150 presents for a local event where they open their doors on Christmas day for local people who would otherwise be alone on the day. They provide Christmas dinner, company, a raffle etc. I spoke to someone last year who told me they was fundraising etc for this year, whilst family live in the area I don’t so I didn’t think much more of it. Until speaking to the organiser today who asked if I could help as they have the money but no presents! :mad:

I’m slightly stumped on how to help as I don’t have the luxury of living near any of the bargain shops I purchased most things from last year. Most shops in my area close at 17:30 and I finish work at 17:00. I don’t get back to the event area until Christmas Eve and will be dropping presents off to friends and family this day.


So my question is where or how can I get my hands on some cheap presents when I’m limited to small high street stores on my lunch break. I’ll be going to T’s when I finish work today as they have some reduced socks online so I’m hoping this will be instore also. I’m aware my hands are rather tied in terms of what I can do this short notice but I do want to try and get something as the only people who will lose if I don’t are the ones attending the event and I think it would be such a shame. As an example last year I was fundraising as I was buying so started with small, budget presents then used the rest as I raised it. By the time Christmas day arrived everyone had about five presents each in a bag – Christmas themed mug, socks, tin of biscuits, box of chocolates and a toiletry set.



Any help would be hugely appreciated!

last day for delivery for christmas at poundland online is today so you maybe able to get a order in.as others have said tubs of sweets from tesco,they also have some little smellies sets for less than a fiver.i hope you can find things.:)

Ungnome

LEJC and Serendipitious - Thank you both. Really appreciate the advice and and time taken to reply.

I think the box of QS or something similar may be the way to go. Last year what I struggled with finding things everyone would like with such a small budget and I do think I need to mix it up this year as most are repeat visitors.

By high street stores I do have a some sort of pound shop but then it's mainly clothing shops etc. Shouldn't have been so vague but I notice a lot of people don't mentioned shop names on here so I never know if it's allowed

Ungnome

bargainqueen8 wrote: »

last day for delivery for christmas at poundland online is today so you maybe able to get a order in.as others have said tubs of sweets from tesco,they also have some little smellies sets for less than a fiver.i hope you can find things.:)

That's brilliant I'll have a look, thank you. I had thought being so late any online purchases were out of the question so this is good news.

Serendipitious

Ungnome wrote: »

LEJC and Serendipitious - Thank you both. Really appreciate the advice and and time taken to reply.

I think the box of QS or something similar may be the way to go. Last year what I struggled with finding things everyone would like with such a small budget and I do think I need to mix it up this year as most are repeat visitors.

By high street stores I do have a some sort of pound shop but then it's mainly clothing shops etc. Shouldn't have been so vague but I notice a lot of people don't mentioned shop names on here so I never know if it's allowed

Oh, the shop names are only fudged sometimes so the stores can't google themselves and find what we are up to instead.

Tinyshoes

Ungnome wrote: »

That's brilliant I'll have a look, thank you. I had thought being so late any online purchases were out of the question so this is good news.

Not sure if you could do an online order for these in time, I can confirm they are rather delicious as I opened a box of mine for quality control of course. And certainly a decent present on their own.

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=146458

If you have a mywaitrose card you can add them to "mypicks" for a further 20% off making them £2.13 a pack, and I'm sure there might be some online conditional spend codes if you are spending a lot. HTHs