The date for the Christmas Bazaar 2016 was written in my calendar in bold letters, it was an event I had been looking forward to all year! This year I was very involved in the Christmas Bazaar, as fourth years and fifth years help with most of the preparation and setup of the Bazaar. I was involved with the YSI table, where we sold cakes and cookies, we had a decoration table for children to decorate cookies on the spot and we had live music! I was also selling my mini company product, so I had my own table for my candles in G19, where all the Ty mini companies were located.
YSI
The last big thing we did with YSI (Young Social Innovators) was that we attended a Christmas Party organised by Homelink for elderly people. Before this we had a Bake Sale at school for St Joseph’s Centre for Dementia and for Homelink. This was a massive success, we baked enormous amounts of cakes, cookies and cupcakes and made about €1000! We presented €500 to Homelink in a cheque and €500 to St Joseph’s.
Due to the fact that the bake sale was such a success, we were first given the Splash area to sell our cakes, cookies and other things at the Bazaar! However the plans altered slightly and we were moved to the area outside Mr Drummy’s office, which suited us just as well! The Splash was to be used for a boxing ring, where professionals would demonstrate fights and also students could volunteer to fight one another! It was an amazing setup. The minute we discovered we were given the responsibility of having a table at the Bazaar, we all put our heads together and came up with ideas of things to sell. During the ‘brainstorming session’ many valid and creative ideas were thought of, but some required lots of materials or time and effort that we simply did not have! One of the ideas was that we could have ‘real-life’ bowling in one of the corridors. This entails that a person becomes the bowling ball by getting into a big ball, and the person tries to knock down the pins! It’s a brilliant idea, and lots of fun but sadly due to health and safety, and lack of space and equipments we could not put this idea into practice!
In the end we all decided on selling: christmas themed cakes, cookies and cupcakes; we would have a table with plain gingerbread, icing and sprinkles for children to decorate the gingerbread! We would also sell sweets in little bags, and YSI members would walk around the Bazaar with the bags of sweets on a tray to sell to people. Darcy went to Musgraves and bought lots and lots of sweets! So the day of the Bazaar, we all gathered in a classroom and filled the plastic bags with all the sweets. We had over 100 bags to sell in the end, which was great!
In addition a few member of YSI sold Christmas Cards for St Joseph’s Centre for Dementia. I heard they sold 38 out of 40 packets of cards, at €5 each! That’s a lot of money made in a short amount of time. In front of our table we had live music, with Alex on the piano and Darcy and Jeremy singing various songs and Christmas Carols! We devised a timetable, where every member of YSI had a slot to stand at our table. However I could not help at the YSI table, as I had my own table, a few doors down selling my mini company candles!
The YSI table at the Bazaar was very successful, and worked out perfectly. Everyone brought in decorations and cakes to sell, and everyone came to help out at the table during their slot. We raised hundreds of euros, if not a thousand, during the few hours of the Christmas Bazaar. What an achievement! I am really glad I am a part of YSI, as this year we are doing so many amazing things.
Mini Company
Meanwhile I was helping out with YSI, I was also preparing my mini company for the Bazaar. I wrote a detailed report for Mr Dungan on my TY Mini Company (click on the link below to view my mini company report), outlining my product and how my business works, explaining the work I have already done and where I have sold my candles, and finally asking for permission to sell my candles at the Christmas Bazaar. I included many pictures of my candles, so Mr Dungan could know what to expect. Soon afterwards I received permission to set up my own table at the Bazaar. I was thrilled!
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I had a few candles already made, left from when I sold my candles at Blackrock Market. Though I wanted to be absolutely certain I had enough stock for the Christmas Bazaar, so I spent hours creating more candles, especially Christmas themed ones! When I was happy I had enough candles (I had about 40 to sell), I continued preparing my company for the Bazaar. I created posters, printed business cards, collected ivy to decorate my table and bought lots of tissue paper to wrap my candles in. I collected any nice bags over the last few weeks, so I could give my customers little bag to put their candles in, without any extra cost.
On the day of the Bazaar, I quickly claimed two tables and placed then in G19, this room was allocated for TY mini companies. In the room with me was Robyn who was selling lovely Christmas decorations and Callum and his mini company team selling portable chargers. There are many other TY mini companies, they just decided not to sell at the Christmas Bazaar!
At around 6.45pm on Thursday the 15th of December, I arrived at school carrying bags and boxes filled with candles and other stuff for my mini company! I quickly set up my table, with fairy lights, christmas coloured tablecloth and ivy. Most importantly I organised my candles neatly by price, as presentation is very important when selling a product like mine! Emma kindly came to help me sell my candles!
Business went surprisingly well throughout the evening! Many students, teachers and parents came to look at my candles, and most of them bought one or two as well. We wrapped the candles up in colourful tissue paper, and ribbon for those who wanted it, and gave each customer a business card so they could contact me if the wanted more candles! Christopher also came to help me sell and wrap candles, which was very helpful! Mr Kelly came and took pictures of me by my table with all my stock laid out. By 8.30pm I had sold 36 out of 40 candles, which is the most I have sold to date! I made a profit of €60 and gave it all to the charity the Bazaar were supporting this year.
In conclusion it was a very busy and eventful Bazaar that was incredibly fun and worthwhile! The Bazaar raised about €18000, which is one of the most successful ever! I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Bazaar, with YSI and my mini company.