Post by kayevcee on Dec 25, 2008 23:13:03 GMT
The greatest gift of all...
Breakfast.
Mary's Meals is a charity that supplies nourishing food to school children in countries all over the third world, easing the pressure on kids who have to work for a living on top of education and helping kids who would otherwise be malnourished to focus on their studies. They're a big help to communities trying to work their own way out of poverty.
Mary's Meals were collecting at Mass the day I got back from Auto Assembly 2008. I only had a tenner left on me so I gave them that. As I sat there and the collection plate passed on, a thought occurred to me. I had just spent about £250 on toys- not housing, or warmth, or any of the other necessities, but toys- and I was giving ten quid to help children in the third world? I've got this the wrong way up.
So I had a chat with Sven and Simon and extensive talks with the Scots contingent about the practicality of my going into the fundraising-through-plastic-robots business. Come Auto Assembly 2009 I will have my own stall, selling old and new TF toys bought from eBay and flea markets and donated by others (Ralph and Karl have already chipped in with surplus from their collection). I will also have leaflets and posters for Mary's Meals, with 10% of the price of each purchase (or 100% in the case of donations) going to the charity.
I've already gathered some good stuff, some middling stuff and some crap I'll be lucky to get 50p for. After much deliberation we decided upon a name that was short and to the point, and hinted at my ability to find really obscure stuff at unusually sane prices.
Coming to a convention near you (if you, in turn, live near Birmingham)...
TOY-FU
-Nick
Breakfast.
Mary's Meals is a charity that supplies nourishing food to school children in countries all over the third world, easing the pressure on kids who have to work for a living on top of education and helping kids who would otherwise be malnourished to focus on their studies. They're a big help to communities trying to work their own way out of poverty.
Mary's Meals were collecting at Mass the day I got back from Auto Assembly 2008. I only had a tenner left on me so I gave them that. As I sat there and the collection plate passed on, a thought occurred to me. I had just spent about £250 on toys- not housing, or warmth, or any of the other necessities, but toys- and I was giving ten quid to help children in the third world? I've got this the wrong way up.
So I had a chat with Sven and Simon and extensive talks with the Scots contingent about the practicality of my going into the fundraising-through-plastic-robots business. Come Auto Assembly 2009 I will have my own stall, selling old and new TF toys bought from eBay and flea markets and donated by others (Ralph and Karl have already chipped in with surplus from their collection). I will also have leaflets and posters for Mary's Meals, with 10% of the price of each purchase (or 100% in the case of donations) going to the charity.
I've already gathered some good stuff, some middling stuff and some crap I'll be lucky to get 50p for. After much deliberation we decided upon a name that was short and to the point, and hinted at my ability to find really obscure stuff at unusually sane prices.
Coming to a convention near you (if you, in turn, live near Birmingham)...
TOY-FU
-Nick
I think the plan is to combine the TMUK and Toy-fu tables Micromaster Base style, and get people who might not normally stop at TMUK to chuck in a magazine along with their toys. Help spread the TMUK lurve a bit further, with a bit of luck.
