St Andrew’s verger, Ian Dunn.
When St Andrew’s Church verger Ian Dunn got the go-ahead to hold a special craft fair on April 29 in support of the Cyclone Gabrielle recovery, nothing could have prepared him for the response he got.
It was around a month ago that Ian first thought of running a third craft fair for the relief effort, but his first step was to clear away all the church requirements.
“Then finally, last Thursday week, I got the go-ahead. I went on the computer from 7pm that night until 1am the next day and sent out 140 emails to previous stall-holders,” he said. “Even as I was sending them out, I was getting replies back, some with an immediate payment and some with even more as a donation.”
Ian said several Cambridge businesses have also responded positively, providing cut-price or free services to the fair and offering to help where they could.
Ian has run the bi-annual St Andrew’s Craft Fair twice a year for an almost unbroken 27 years and funds go back into church coffers to aid the community. This will be the first he has held for a specific relief purpose, and all the proceeds from site fees will go towards Cyclone Gabrielle relief.
“I did try to organise two Twilight Craft Fairs during Covid but they both ended up being cancelled.”
The fair will be at St Andrew’s Church grounds from 9am to 2pm on April 29.
