Middle school set to have a return of car boot sales event

A Bury St Edmunds middle school is hoping to kick start the return of a regular car boot sale in town as part of its fundraising efforts.

Westley Middle School PTA is organising the event to take place on Saturday, June 18, from 10am to 2pm, on the school site in Oliver Road and is hoping it will be well supported by the community so it can become a recurring feature.

Gary Cole, chair of Westley PTA, said: “It has been several years since a regular car boot sale has taken place in the town. We’re hoping that by organising this event at school it will give people who are unable to travel to sales outside of Bury the chance to experience a car boot sale in town. We hope to be able to repeat the event regularly if we get enough support from local buyers and sellers and can make this event a success.”

The money raised by the PTA helps support activities in school and also pays for the school’s minibus, allowing students the opportunity to travel for sporting events and other activities.

Gary added: “For the last two years the PTA’s fundraising efforts have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, like so many other school PTAs and charities. Now we’re able to get things started up again we’re looking at new and different ways to generate those much-needed funds, as well as putting on events that people will enjoy.”

Ben Jeffery, headteacher at Westley,said: “In a testing time for the school it has been brilliant to have the PTA working hard on projects like running a car boot. All schools run on very tight budgets and the money raised will make a huge difference, especially with important things like sport, music and art.”

Sellers are welcome to set up from 9.30am. The price for sellers will be £5 for a car, £7 for a car with trailer/larger vehicle and £10 for traders. There is plenty of parking on the school site for both buyers and sellers. Refreshments will be available.

To help the PTA plan for the event, anyone planning to be a seller is encouraged to register their interest in advance using this link – https://bit.ly/3FrsE6q – though sellers are welcome to just turn up on the day – there will be plenty of space for everyone.