'Yard sale' flogging festive goodies helps boost flood appeal at county showground in Shrewsbury

JOS Events staged a 'yard sale' at the West Midlands Showground in Shrewsbury on Saturday, to help raise funds for the venue's flood appeal.

It also teamed up with the Rural Charity, based at the showground, and part of the Shropshire and West Midlands Agricultural Society, to help it sell its surplus stock.

The events organisation is well known for the flea markets it organises at the showground as well as antique fairs in Oswestry, both of which often feature on the BBC's Bargain Hunt programme.

But the serious flooding that has wreaked havoc at the Shrewsbury venue has meant JOS Events deciding not to go ahead with its Christmas event there this year.

"We just couldn't take the chance of putting on an event only to see it postponed at the last minute," Emma Jones said.

"We had so many props and Christmas stuff that we decided to sell it off and help the flood appeal at the same time as well as letting people have a bit of joy out of them."

The Rural Charity joined in, selling some of its surplus stock. It has charity shops across the county and uses storage facilities at the showground. But the building has been hit by the flooding in the past.

Emma said: "There was a flood on the showground a couple of weeks back and all the surplus stock had to get to safety quickly."

"While there is still plenty of stock in the shops, the charity wanted to ensure some of the surplus was sold and the yard sale seemed a great idea for everyone."

She said the yard sale had attracted large numbers of people.

"It has gone so well that we are planning another on November 25, 7.30am-1pm," she said.