SHANKLIN Rotary Club’s major community fundraising project, its annual mega sale, smashed last year’s fundraising total.

The sale, between January 9-20,  raised almost £26,000, which will be donated to various causes, including Island charities — beating last year’s figure by £9,000.

The annual event, the biggest on the Island’s Rotary club calendar, was held at the YMCA's Winchester House, on Sandown Road, Shanklin.

Isle of Wight County Press: The queue for the Shanklin Rotary Club mega sale on its opening day.The queue for the Shanklin Rotary Club mega sale on its opening day. (Image: County Press)

Shanklin Rotary sold anything from good quality furniture, clothing and crockery, to DVDs, gardening equipment and books.

On its opening day, in freezing conditions, there was a big queue vying for some big bargains.

The sale was run like a well-oiled military operation, relying on huge support from individuals and local organisations to collect goods from households in the Sandown Bay area beforehand.

The Shanklin Rotary Club mega sale, which has run for almost a century, has raised well over a million pounds, they estimate.

Between 2007 and 2017 alone, the sale raised more than £330,000. 

Shanklin Rotary's honorary secretary, Rachel Wadia, said: "We are just under £26,000 this year, compared to last year's 17,000. Increased efficiencies means we doubled net income.

"Unfortunately we still have some unusable donations which eat into income.

"The Shanklin Rotary Sale has traditionally been run every January for decades, gathering speed and volume as it grew — until Covid. 

"Over two weeks, we collect, sort, sell, deliver and recycle as much as we can within the area.

"Although we used to collect around £40,000 in the larger Lower Hyde venue, now unavailable, we are grateful the Shanklin YMCA have housed us over the past two years.   

"Over the decades, we must have collected more than a million pounds since it began. Apart from a small proportion going to overseas aid, around 95 per cent is donated to causes on the Island. 

"These range from the hospice to baby clubs, from disability swimming to college prizes, from Age Concern to St Mary's Children's garden, and many others...  

"The Rotary club is a non-profit organisation and, although the club is small, we have well over 40 volunteers who support us. This enables us to carry on the Shanklin Rotary tradition, and it also keeps the club alive."