FUNDRAISING – Chiswick car boot sale
‘Our car boot is a local institution’
Former school parents help run the show, and keep it going for a new generation
Vic Robinson, PTA co-chair, Chiswick School PTA (1,607 pupils)
T
his year, our school won a Bronze Pearson National Teaching Award. The Making a Difference Award
celebrates initiatives that transform the life chances of local children and enrich the whole community. Our monthly car boot sale, which has been operating since 1984, is a great example of how we work. Alumni parents are at the heart of it: Tina is our treasurer, Ray deals with operations, Isabelle oversees the sales and rotas, and Guy can park 100 vehicles on a postage stamp. He knows every regular seller from the past 25 years by name. Alongside many other former school parents, they keep it running, remind us of
its legacy and teach us newbies the ropes! The car boot sale makes a huge difference to the school. In the year 2024-25, we raised a whopping £103,000 and most years we make about £70,000. We’re a large secondary school
and the sale attracts some 200 parent volunteers in all, with a core team of about 40 who help most months. In addition to our PTA trustees, we have a separate committee that organises the car boot sales – alumni parents make up half of this group. Teachers and former parents at the school also volunteer regularly and attend the sales. It’s a wonderful way to meet other parents and feel part of the school community. Both new and experienced volunteers often
find a favourite shift and ask to be with specific friends, allowing for an enjoyable catch-up during the occasional quiet moments. I’m told there were initially about
six cars and 30 visitors. The sales grew slowly, but recently there has been a real boom in car boots and thrifting, and now the whole thing is massive. In May, during a particularly dry spell, we recorded some 4,000 visitors and 385 vehicles. I’m not a natural car booter, but once I got involved, I realised what it represented for local people. We get enthusiastic teenagers arriving at 6am, retirees looking for a bargain and people wanting furniture to upcycle.
Location, location,
FIND OUT MORE
at chiswickcar
bootsale.com/ home
location We are fortunate to have a fantastic site and location with two playgrounds and a huge field. We’re situated right by the A316, a main route in and out of London, so it’s very busy. There are lots of rules about how we can operate, and while complaints do arise, they are rare. We’ve built up a good reputation, and people know the funds we generate support the children. On site, our
volunteers wear high-visibility School Fundraising AUTUMN 2025 21
AS TOLD TO DANIEL ETHERINGTON
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