So, what is the Craft Fair?

The Grampound Art and Craft Fair has been a feature of the hall for over 10 years. Following this year's successful August Fair we asked Richard Pryor some questions about the fair and how it works.

What is the Art and Craft Fair?

Richard. Alison and I took it over and have run it since 2016. We normally run three, 5-day Art and craft Fairs a year, April, August and October. We have run a couple of 2-day fairs in December but found that this was just too much work to organise.

All the items on sale at the Art and Craft Fair are hand made in Cornwall and we are very strict about this. In addition to the Craft and Art work on sale we have a very popular Coffee, Cake and chat area. All the cakes are made by very capable cooks who live in the village. This side of things has been taken over by Audrey, no mean cake producer herself, with the help of her band of voluntary helpers. The cake is home made although I am afraid that the coffee is not!

How do you and Alison share the work of running the Fair?

Richard. Alison and I split the organisation of the fairs. Alison, being of an artistic nature, organises the layout of the actual Art and craft Fairs as well as giving the final decision on whether new stalls are appropriate or suitable. This does not mean that their Craft is poor it simply means that we already have stalls producing and selling similar items. We like to protect the profits of our existing stall holders where possible. This policy might have lost us a few stalls but it produces a very loyal group of Stall Holders who can maximise their sales.

I, being blind, have a computer which talks to me so I do a lot of the administration for the Art and Craft Fair. This includes sending out invitations, booking new stall holders and giving general support to them. Occasionally it involves reminding them that they have not paid for their stall, we insist on payment before the start of each Art and Craft Fair. The administration is a bit of an on-going task for example we have just finished the August Fair and I am already starting on contacting Stall holders about the October fair.

Apart from arts, crafts, cake, and coffee what else goes on?

Richard. Another part of the Art and Craft Fair is the “Previously loved books “section. It took me some time to realise that this meant second-hand books. This has proved to be a very steady source of income although we charge very little for the books.

The Art and Craft Fair is a great success. Give us some of the figures.

All the funds we raise with the Art and Craft Fairs go to the upkeep of our Village Hall and - since 2016 - this mounts up as you will see from the figures below.

24 Fairs

867 Stalls

£33,064 Village Hall

£92,910 Stall Holders

How can others help?

Richard. Volunteers are the backbone of the Art and Craft Fair and we always need more. Volunteers help to put up and take down stalls as well as being cashiers and wrappers for items purchased by our customers who also contribute 50p for the privilege of coming into the fair.

If you are interested in helping us with the Art and craft Fair then please make contact with me by either sending me an email to:

richardgpryor@googlemail.com

or

ringing me on 01726 882920

Come and visit next time the fair runs ... you never know what you might find!