Sale to turn antiques and collectables into community cash

JULIA WADE

25 April, 2022

Punters interested in purchasing a bargain while supporting their local community’s welfare are invited to attend a special vintage and memorabilia fair soon to be held in Otamatea.

Maungaturoto Country Club will be decked out with valuables and keepsakes, toys and trinkets, books and tools on the weekend of May 7-8, for The Den Antiques and Collectables Sale, with all proceeds going back in to the surrounding community. A silent auction with extra-special items will also be held on the Saturday at 9am and finalised at 12pm.

Since transforming from a Men’s Shed to a fundraising second-hand store in 2018, The Den – located at the old Scout Den on Bickerstaffe Road – has become a successful way of turning donated items into cash to support the health and wellbeing of the wider Otamatea county area, co-founder and renowned dedicated community supporter Albie Paton says.

“There was an opportunity to grow from the Shed and we’ve done it… and now we’re in the process of becoming a registered charitable trust – The Otamatea Community Charitable Trust,” he says. “We won’t be advertising for people to apply for funding yet though as we have enough places to put the money at the moment. As we go forward it’s all going to grow however, and hopefully we’ll leave something for the future of the Otamatea area.”

Over the last four years of operating, The Den has injected close to $300,000 into organisations of varying sizes around Maungaturoto district, including contributions to the Maungaturoto Rest Home and Retirement Village dementia unit, Kaipara Volunteer Coastguard, Northland Electricity Helicopter, Linking Hands and Otamatea St John Ambulance to name a few. The Den’s scope is not limited to Kaipara district however.

“The main aim of the Trust is to support people in Otamatea so we also give donations to Starship Hospital and the cancer unit, Daffodil House, as residents often use these facilities.”

Sale items donated by locals include crockery, glassware and brass ornaments, assorted books, records and toys including vintage tin items, crafts, cameras and equipment, furniture and other household items, tools and electrical bits, plus lots more.

“I’ve put together a lot of old stuff over the last few years as we were going to have this type of sale two years ago but couldn’t due to the virus, hopefully Covid will behave itself now and we can get it off the ground,” Albie says. “We’d love people to come along and see what we do, look forward to seeing you all there helping support the wider community, but be quick as there are plenty of sought-after collectable items and great bargains to be had.”

A blast from the past. As well as giving to the community, a number of items at The Den’s coming-up Antique and Collectable Sale will bring a touch of nostalgia for some lucky shoppers. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED