LIZ BITAKARAMIRE: Rare Book Sale For A Good Cause

It has been quite a while since I last put my two penn'orth in on the CFZ blog but I have not been idle in that meantime. I have been working for Caritas, a little social action charity in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, which seeks to end poverty and homelessness, promote community cohesion and much more!

We have recently been donated a massive slew of books, of varying theme, but many of them caught my eye as being of potential interest to our cryptozoological community so I thought I'd share.

The books will be uploaded to both Amazon and Abe Books in the near future, but in the meantime, if you fancy doing something nice for charity, whilst also treating yourself to an informative tome about beekeeping, or a guide to the birds of South Africa, please email l.bitakaramire@caritassalford.org.uk

P.S. You can also sign up to our e-newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/dv87oL

BENEFIT CONCERT FOR CELIA HAMMOND ANIMAL TRUST

That Legendary Wooden Lion and Slam.

Friday 22nd of July. 7PM. Bridgehouse2 Bidder Street Canning Town.

Tickets via paid guestlist. 5 pounds.

(contact dmcmann321@gmail.com to be listed and pay on the door).

A few tickets will be available on the door.

All profit goes to Celia Hammond Animal Trust.

ONE PIECE OF GOOD NEWS

A few weeks ago we asked is this the end for charity fish auctions?

TIM ADDIS WRITES: I had to think hard about continuing the auctions as Alan had to pull out through continuing health problems. Alan's sisters also wanted to pull out so I had to decide to stop them or pull others into the organisation. I'm pleased to say I have had enough volunteers from those already attending the auctions to say we can now go forward & continue.
Alan will hopefully still be coming to the auctions but he is finding it a little hard to do the heavy lifting at the moment, which is understandable. Next auction is booked for the 6th December. As always, details will be put on the usual web page with loads of reminders beforehand.

So, that's one piece of good news.

IS THIS THE END FOR CHARITY FISH AUCTIONS?

On sunday I would have gone to a charity livebearer auction in the Midlands. For a number of reasons it didn't happen. I was very disappointed, because it was something that Rossi and I had been looking forward to greatly since Christmas, but things do not always work out the way that one wants them. Sadly, it seems that this might have been the last of them. Tim Addis, one of the organisers, wrote:


We donated £591.60 into the charity funds which is almost £100 up on last Decembers do. It would have been a lot more but quite a few of those attending did not pay a £2 entrance fee which all goes into the charity pot. It's hard to control entrance with the back doors open to set the event up so we rely on peoples honesty.


I think that this is apalling. I find it hard to imagine the mindset of people who are prepared to spend money on pet fish, but not to pay two quid on the door as an entrance fee in ordfer to do so. This is a sad indictment of the society in which we live. Tim goes on to say:


This may be the last one ! Alan is pulling out of organising due to health problems over the past year & I fully understand his reasons. The girls who have helped us out with handling the money & booking forms right from the first auction have also decided to retire from the auctions. We would not have been able to even hold the first auction without their help & Alan & I really thank you for all your hard work over the years.

Now this leaves just me to organise the whole thing which is getting hard now as the event is really growing. I would like to keep it going as it is now something many people have come to appreciate in December & June & I don't want to let you all down by completely pulling the plug on it.


He is hoping to organise a committee to help run the auction in future. Good luck Tim. I know from bitter experience that it is very hard to get help to do anything like that. However, I hope that it will all work out in the end, because it was a fantastic event, and one that will be sorely missed.


If you can help, email Tim on timaddis@killifish.force9.co.uk