NCT Lichfield & Tamworth Branch
Nearly New Sale – Information for Volunteers
Sale date: Sunday 12th March 2017.
Venue: Nether Stowe High School, St Chad’s Road, Lichfield, WS13 7NB
Thank you for volunteering at our next Nearly New Sale. Our sale is a great way of raising awareness and funds for the excellent work of National Childbirth Trust (NCT). The NCT is the UK’s largest parenting charity, providing local and national support to parents-to-be and families through services such as a national helpline, ante-natal courses & bumps & babies groups.
To ensure that the sale runs smoothly for all, please read through this information pack before the day of the sale.
If you have any questions or need any more information then please contact the Branch via our Facebook page or email
The branch and the sale is run entirely by volunteers – you will get an ‘out of office’ notification from the email account but don’t worry if you don’t receive a personalised response from us straightaway, we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Timetable for the day of the sale
8.30am Volunteers arrive & sale briefing
9am Sellers drop off sale items & sign in
9am-10.30am Volunteers prepare venue and organise items for sale
10.30am Volunteers pre-sale
10.45am Sale opens to NCT members
11.00am Sale opens to general public
12.30pm Sale closes
12.30pm – 2.30pm Volunteers organise unsold items by seller and tidy up venue
2.30pm Sellers to collect unsold items
3.00pm Volunteers final tidy and depart venue
Volunteer activities; before the sale
1. Arriving at 8.30am, volunteers pick up a name badge and NCT apron (Branch committee members will have t-shirts) so people know who you are during the event.
2. When all volunteers are assembled, the Nearly New Sale Co-ordinator will hold a briefing and allocate roles for the sale.
3. Volunteers assist in the final preparation of the venue such as setting up tables/clothes rails, putting up signs and forming till areas. A floor plan of the venue will be drawn up in advance and shared to help volunteers understand the layout of the sale.
4. The sale is organised by category of item (e.g. baby toys, boys 0-3mth clothes, ride on toys etc) rather than by seller. After sellers have dropped off their goods for sale, volunteers arrange the items around the room as per the floor plan. Sellers’ boxes and bags are retained to collate unsold items at the end of the sale.
5. Whilst items are being arranged, volunteers should review whether the items are appropriate and meet requirements for the sale in regards to cleanliness, completeness, quality, pricing and appropriateness for the sale. See sellers information pack for further details on what can/cannot be sold. Items that do not meet NCT requirements should be removed from the sale, a red cross struck through the sales ticket and returned to the seller at the end, explaining why we were unable to sell it. If you are in doubt about any item, please speak to one of the Branch committee members.
6. When all seller items are displayed, a final walk round by volunteers takes place to ensure items are arranged in the most attractive, eye-catching way for buyers.
Volunteer activities; during the sale
There are a number of different roles required during the sale. Roles do not have to be completed for the whole duration of the sale, there is flexibility to swap around with the other volunteers.
Please let us know if there is a particular role you would like to undertake or plays to your strengths e.g. good with numbers, good with IT etc. Plus, please let us know in advance if you are pregnant or require periods of time seated. This will enable us to allocate you an appropriate role at the sale.
· Entrance desk
Ø Take entrance donations (£1.50 donation)
Ø Check members have valid NCT membership cards
· Floor-walkers
Ø Ensure items continue to be displayed in eye catching way
Ø Identify and remove any damaged items or those detached from their labels
Ø Keep an eye out for suspicious behaviour from those attending sale, challenging where appropriate
Ø Handing out further empty shopping bags to buyers so they can get more to the till!
Ø At least 1 volunteer to stand with larger items for additional security and answer any buyer questions
Ø Those volunteers allocated to managing clothes, should replenish bagged item as appropriate during the sale
· Till work
Ø Need to separate part of labels from sale items
Ø Pack into supplied bags for buyer
Ø Add up total for purchase (calculators available)
Ø Take cash or card payment (Training on using Chip & Pin machines will be provided on the day)
Ø On completion of purchase, labels are collated and passed to the label processing team
· Label processing team
Ø Log labels from sold items into spreadsheet – this is completed on an ongoing basis during the sale
Ø Collate labels by seller
Ø At end of sale, calculate total sales per seller. On collection of unsold items, if requested, sellers receive an envelope containing all the labels from their sold items and stating the total money generated.
Volunteer activities; after the sale
1. After sale closure, volunteers clear a space in the centre of the room by moving tables and unsold items to the edge of the hall.
2. A4 pieces of paper detailing numbers 1-50 are laid out logically in the centre of the floor and sellers boxes/bags are distributed as per the numbers i.e. seller 1 boxes/bags are placed by the piece of paper detailing 1, seller 2 boxes/bags by piece of paper with 2 and so on.
3. Volunteers review all unsold items, identify the seller number and place items in the appropriate box/bag for that seller. When all items have been sorted, each seller’s unsold items will be double checked to ensure errors are minimalised.
4. Any labels that have become separated from items or vice versa are placed on the “lost label” table. Sellers are asked to review this table when picking up their unsold items.
5. As sellers arrive to pick up their unsold items, a couple of volunteers will distribute envelopes containing sold item labels.
6. Volunteers tidy up the venue – dismantling tables and clothes rails, taking down signs, cleaning up as appropriate.
Handy hints for the sale day
· Wear comfy shoes - you’ll spend a lot of time on your feet
· Wear clothing in multiple layers – it can be quite cold in the morning in a large sports hall but warms up during the sale
· Bring any specific drinks/food you require – we will provide tea, coffee, squash & light snacks
· Minimalise the valuables you bring with you – we do not have facilities to lock away bags/purchases etc however there will be space for personal items within a room used by the label processing team. This room is likely to be occupied by volunteers throughout the sale however we cannot be held responsible for lost or damaged personal property. All items are left at the owner’s risk.
What we offer volunteers
· A fun day, meeting new people and having a laugh.
· Sense of achievement to be contributing to the important work of the NCT
· If you stay all day (8.30am until the end) and are also a seller, you will receive a commission charge of 25% on your sold items (standard charge is 30%).
· Volunteers pre-sale; chance to buy items before the sale opens to NCT members and general public
· Refreshments provided throughout the day – tea/coffee/squash/snacks.
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