Save East Dulwich
Community Raffle
#saveeastdulwich | tinyurl.com/yc5fbjuy
Local resident Victoria Rennison decided to do something to help East Dulwich during the Covid-19 Crisis. "I have lived in East Dulwich for three years now and moved here because of the wonderful atmosphere in the area, with so many independent shops and businesses, friendly people and a real sense of community. With the latest government advice meaning so many of these local businesses have suddenly had to close, the impact was immediate and palpable. I saw online how they were trying to innovate and offer what they could but worrying what might happen to their shops, restaurants, cafes, gyms etc. so I wanted to do something which helped them financially in some way but also raised awareness of their plight and encouraged people to support them, shop and spend locally and help them get through the other side.” The idea of the community raffle is to sell tickets to people all over East Dulwich and the surrounding areas and use all proceeds raised to buy gifts, vouchers, hampers and experiences from independent businesses. There were 10,000 tickets available and for every 50 tickets purchased, a new prize was added to the raffle. The draw happened 6 | SE22 - May 2020
on Easter Day and there were many happy prize winners. After the success of the first raffle, Victoria decided to do Round Two! "After the amazing (and unexpected) success of the first raffle, with all 10,000 tickets selling before the Easter Day deadline and being able to support 50 wonderful businesses, I had a week of relaxing a little and letting it all settle down but couldn't help think there might be appetite for another round. And it was so heart-warming to hear so many lovely comments and feedback on how people would love to buy more tickets and get involved again, so I thought I just had to give it another go! This time we’ve added a twist - some prizes are big and beautiful, some prizes are small and beautiful but all prizes are a real representation of what East Dulwich has to offer. And for all the headaches and late nights that come with it, if we can raise more money for our local economy and make even more of a difference, it'll all be worth it!" We caught up with a couple of the local businesses taking part: "I can’t thank Victoria Rennison enough for the organisational feat of putting together the Save East Dulwich so swiftly and helping out so many local businesses including the SE22 Piano School. We are very much looking forward to meeting all the raffle winners as soon as we can re-open our premises just off Lordship Lane." Lorraine, SE22 Piano School www.se22piano.co.uk "We're so grateful to Victoria for all her hard work on the raffle, it's incredible that she managed to organise it so quickly and so effectively. The level of support for local businesses is really heartening and encouraging at this very tricky time. Thank you to everyone involved!" Miranda Peake, Chener Books www.chenerbooks.com You can still buy tickets via: tinyurl.com/yc5fbjuy @saveeastdulwich @DulwichSave #saveeastdulwich
