Lindsay and Derek Judd

Our next 40th Faces of St Nic’s are Derek and Lindsay, a pair of entrepreneurial volunteers who have given a boost of more than £25,000 to us as they give up their Sunday mornings to add to hospice funds.

Since 2016, St Nicholas Hospice Care volunteers Derek and Lindsay Judd have been going the extra mile for the charity by setting up at Barton Mills Car Boot Sale and selling items.

The pair, who also volunteer in the charity’s Mildenhall shop two half days a week, take goods that cannot be sold in the shop (for various reasons) and would usually find themselves wasted and turn them into money raised for the Hospice’s shop.

So far, Derek and Lindsay, who before deciding to support the Hospice in this way hadn’t car-booted before, have raised an amazing £25,286.10.

Lindsay, who is also the volunteer supervisor at the Mildenhall shop, explains: “What gave me the idea, I suppose, was seeing stuff that we couldn’t sell in the shop that might be of perfect use to someone going to waste, and I thought it was just such a shame.

“Recently we had some roller-skates. We can’t sell them in the shop, but we took them to the car boot and we got £10 for them, which is £10 for the Hospice.

“When we first started in 2016, we raised £300 in that year, which, as we didn’t know what to expect, we were really pleased with how it went. It was quite an experimental year for us. The amounts we raised steadily grew, and when we’d come into the shop, Karen (manager) and the other volunteers would let us know that they had things for us to take to the car boot.

“During Covid-19, we obviously had to stop, but when we could, we got back to it. We enjoy doing it; it does take over our house sometimes, but we do enjoy it.”

In 2016, £343.50 was raised, and this increased to £1,620.30 in 2018 and £3840 the following year. In 2020 despite the pandemic and lockdowns an impressive £2,745 was raised, followed by £3,900 in 2021, £3,020 in 2022, £4,660 last year and so far this year £3,025.

Karen Jones, St Nicholas Hospice Care’s retail support manager, said: “What Lindsay and Derek do makes a real difference to us. Not only do they raise added funds, but they are making use of items that would usually go to waste.

“In our shops, we have to adhere to guidelines around what we can sell, and as you would expect, we quite often get given items that we can’t sell. A lot of that is connected to health and safety rules that shops need to follow, but these don’t apply to car boot sales. That happens quite a lot, but because Lindsay and Derek take these items to the car boot, we are able to get some money for them, and over the years what has been raised has really added up.

“We are really grateful to Derek and Lindsay for giving their time to volunteer in the shop and for giving up their Sunday mornings for us, come rain or shine.”

Lindsay also sells Hospice Christmas cards at the local autumn fair, which also helps to raise funds.

“We do enjoy volunteering for the Hospice,” says Lindsay, with Derek agreeing, adding: “It is nice to feel useful, and you do get to meet some nice people.”