The History of The Shed

M Northcote    Published: Thursday, 1 August 2013

The story in Pictures

Background:
The Rotary Club of Cambelltown (SA), District 9520, began selling second hand goods in 1966, the year the club was chartered, when the first Auction and Jumble sale was held. This soon became an annual event and provided a major source of income for the club.

In 1977, a modest sized galvanized iron Shed was built on land owned and provided by the local City Council. This enabled second-hand goods to be stored and sorted prior to sale. In 1990 a second smaller shed was built on the site. In addition to the annual Auction and Jumble Sale, goods were sold through an Opportunity shop. By 1998 it became apparent that the major beneficiary of the Shop, in a bad location, was the landlord. The club decided to close the shop and conduct monthly Second Hand Goods Sales from the Shed location. Income of about $1,000/month was achieved. But working in the Sheds was difficult, hot and dusty.

The New Shed:
A decision was taken to build a new, much larger shed to provide more capacity and better working conditions as well as improved storage and display. The cost of building a 18m x 18m x 8m high steel Shed, with room to add a mezzanine floor later, was about $60,000, and the City of Campbelltown offered a loan of $58,000 over 10 years with repayments of $8,050 pa. The club aimed to make $2,000/month in sales to both pay off the loan and maintain previous net annual income from second-hand goods of $1,000/month.

What happened? Once the club made the commitment, the following occurred:

  • The old sheds were demolished and the new shed was put up and made ready for use with the loss of only 3 months of sales activity from November 2002 to February 2003;
  • Sales from the new Shed are held regularly on the last Saturday of every month and started to average over $2,500/month net income;
  • Sponsorships, with advertising of businesses in our club Newsletter, provided over $4,000pa towards repayment of the loan;
  • Additional funds have been spent on Shed development, taking the total cost to over $70,000; Net income from the Shed project (sales of second-hand goods) in 2003/04 was $32,675;
  • Net income in 2004/05 was closer to $3,400/month and went over $40,000 for the year, by far the major source of income for club projects;
  • Sufficient funds became available to completely pay off the Council loan by June 2005, nearly 8 years ahead of schedule;

What the SHED means to us now:

  • It is our major source of funds; There is a Shed sale on the last Saturday of every month. We even had a sale on Dec 31st. We average $3,600 per month, every month.
  • In addition to raising funds, many goods are donated to worthy charitable causes, particularly including needy immigrants and women’s shelter victims;
  • Our grand-daughter club, Magill Sunrise has a BBQ stall which supplies breakfast(muffins & eggs), lunch (sausages) and drinks to the workers AND the public. For them this monthly effort is a major source of funds. We also enjoy the good fellowship.
  • Every TUESDAY there is a working bee: women sort out household goods, men the heavier stuff Regular pickups are done in the community. We no longer need to advertise for goods.
  • There is much fellowship in these working groups during the week, and of course on the sale day
  • Thanks are due to the many partners of members and former members who provide many hours of voluntary assistance in preparing goods for sale, and to the many members who collect goods offered for sale and help in other ‘heavy’ duties involved.

This has been an outstanding example of a Club commitment to undertake a major capital development, with some risk, in order to achieve a positive outcome for fundraising and the many service projects which can then be undertaken. The result of the commitment made by the Club has been an outstanding success which will reap rewards for all the clubs charitable activities for many years to come. 

The above was the Club's submission to D9520 for the best Fundraising event in 2006.  (which we won)

The story in Pictures


New Shed Construction in 2002
Preparing for the First Sale Day.  And it was 40 degrees
 
The Team one Saturday
 
A typical crowd before opening at 8am

Shed Convenor, Eric Webb, before the opening

Keen bargain hunters
 
Partners in charge of homeware, clothes etc
 
The Rotary Club of Magill Sunrise prepares breakfast and lunch for workers and the public