Holy Corner Christian Aid Booksale: CANCELLED... Again!

The Holy Corner Booksale committee has confirmed the cancellation of this year’s booksale. Although inevitable in the current Covid restrictions, it is nevertheless very disappointing for volunteers and customers as it has become a calendar fixture in May for Bruntsfield and Morningside. There are, however, a couple of developments that will help us to raise money for Christian Aid.

• eBay Sale: Last year we experimented with selling some books online with mixed results. However, this year David Donald has taken on this task and is bringing consistency and order to these activities - with some early success! One item that we had priced at £10 recently sold for £123! This is wonderful news and shows that we can reach a much wider audience for some of the Specials/Collectables. While we can’t expect that level of success with every item, it is nevertheless very encouraging.
• Virtual Kiltwalk: On Friday 23 April, three of our Booksale volunteers undertook a “bookish wander around Edinburgh”. Christian Aid is promoting the Virtual Kiltwalk as a way of raising money because Sir Tom Hunter and The Hunter Foundation will add 50% to whatever participants raise, which is quite a motivator.

Details of the items for sale on eBay and how to donate to the Kiltwalk, along with the “bookish wander” are available on the Holy Corner Booksale website. If you can support us in these initiatives it would be very much appreciated. (https://holycornerbooksale.wordpress.com/ways-to-help)

The committee is also considering the possibility of holding a small scale booksale in the autumn. A final decision is dependent on many factors, not least of which is the extent to which restrictions have been lifted. We’ll make a final decision later in the summer.

Last year we were able to send a donation of £650 to Christian Aid, made up of individual member donations and a small amount of online book sales. (Understandably, nothing like the £17,000 sent in 2019 from the last booksale and donations!)

If you would like to give a donation for this year’s Christian Aid Week, you can send a cheque to the church payable to Morningside United Church with a note that it is for Christian Aid. You can also give directly online to Christian Aid at https://www.christianaid.org.uk/.

Contributed by Margaret Lobban