Gift of sight fair - 30 Nov 2021

Tuesday 30 November, 2021

General trading 11.00am – 6.00pm. 

Evening Ticketed Gala Reception 6pm - 8.30pm. 

Set up will be from 8.30am.

Chelsea Old Town Hall, King's Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 5EE

The hall will be available for setting-up from 8.30am on Tuesday 30 November.  

Please don't come any earlier as we will not be ready for you - we only have access to the Hall from 8am and the tables need to be set up and labelled.  This cannot be done once people are already arriving, as we will want to be able to direct you to the right places and help with any queries. There will be plenty of time to set up before the first visitors arrive at midday.    Any requests for an earlier start will, regrettably, have to be refused.  Because of the likely congestion at the back of the Hall, you may be better off planning to arrive a little later.

We will contact you shortly after your application has been submitted to confirm your booking, and request a deposit of £50. Full payment for your stall will be requested closer to the time of the Fair.

Main Hall                                   £250

Small Hall & Cadogan Room   £175

Food Area                                  £100

Please be aware that this year there are only two, not three, loading bay entrances located at either side of the rear of the Town Hall in Chelsea Manor Gardens off Chelsea Manor Street.  The right-hand entrance is for the staircase up the side by the Cadogan Suite/Kitchen (best for main hall) and the left-hand entrance (beyond the blue hoarding) is best for the small hall.  There will be Town Hall Traffic Marshalls controlling access. Loading is from the floor below the hall and regrettably there is no lift.  We will have some extra helpers to carry boxes.  If you can come by taxi you might find it better to be dropped off at the front of the town hall where there is a single loading bay.

The council allows you to park temporarily at the back of the Town Hall to unload but you must then move on and park elsewhere.  There are public car parks nearby (e.g. 50 spaces at the car park on Sydney Street) or there are shorter-stay meters in nearby side streets.   

• There is Wi-Fi.  
• All stallholders will have a single table and one chair (unless requested otherwise).  Additional chairs are available on request.   Similarly, if you don’t need a table please just ask for this to be removed.
• There are pin board panels in some (but not all) stall locations - we regret that the Town Hall has limited our access to these, so even if you have requested one when you booked, it may not be possible for us to give you one. The pin boards are not very strong however and not designed for heavy things e.g. framed pictures to be hung from them – you are better off with posters.   If you have a pop up poster of your own you may find this a good backdrop, in case you do not have a pin board.  
• We will do our best to accommodate hanging rails and other displays, but the halls will be very full and the Council is very strict that gangways are not to be obstructed. 

A member of the Guild will come to your stall to collect your donation for the Tree of Sight tombola. We appreciate that you will be busy setting up, so please try to have this ready for collection.  If you don’t have a suitable item from your stock, a decent bottle of wine would be a welcome alternative. 

We have event insurance but it is a condition of our policy that our stallholders also have their own public liability insurance too.  

There are power points around the halls, including floor sockets, but we suggest you bring an extension and a multi plug adaptor for your convenience.  The lighting can be a little dim, especially in the side hall, so if this might be an issue for you, we suggest you bring some additional lighting.  The corridors are well lit.

This is a shopping event, not just a party, and all stallholders are expected to be trading until 8.30pm -  indeed many of our past stallholders report better sales during the reception than during the day.  We will be pleased to offer to each stall two glasses of sparkling wine, free of charge, plus canapes.  If stallholders would like further glasses of fizz, these will be available for a cash donation. It promises to be an excellent party so please encourage your family, friends and customers to come. 

We close for trading at 8.30pm.  Please help us keep the atmosphere up til the end by not packing up early.   Once you start packing up and loading, please ensure that you are out of the building by 10pm.  Please also remember to bring a black sack for your rubbish and take it away with you – otherwise the Council charges us for a skip.

At the end of the day, we will come around to collect from you the 10% commission on gross sales at the Fair (i.e. the total of sales without deducting expenses) and also on orders received as a result of introduction via the Fair, which is due at the close of business.  Please remember that our aim is to raise as much as possible for the sight-saving work of St John. Payment can be made by cash or card. Cheque is also possible if necessary.

Please do not leave before settling your account as it takes a lot of effort to chase stallholders after the event.  If you are VAT registered, we follow the CFA advice that your 10% may be calculated by reference to the ex VAT total.

Finally, if you have any special requests, please let me know as soon as possible.  We will do our best to accommodate you.