When Katherine (Guider at 4th Ruislip Windmill Guides) and Christine Mills (Willow Tree Trefoil) decided during lockdown to sell some of the Willow Tree shop badges on Ebay, nobody had any idea that a few years later, sales would become a daily occurrence and annual contributions to the Willow Tree accounts would be measured in £000’s.
During the early months of 2020 as the country moved through Lockdown and slowly back to ‘normal’, sales of old Guide and Brownie badges ticked up with Katherine & Christine soon realising that there were many buyers out there interested in obtaining old badges. Some because they were still adding to their blankets, others to collect for their own daughters and to show how it used to be.
Recognising this demand, Katherine & Christine set about collating a clear inventory of what badges there were and what the available supply was from those closely associated with the Willow Tree Centre. Sales continued to increase and every so often a lump sum of money, £200 or £300 was sent to the Willow Tree accounts.
By the second half of 2022, many more badges had been sourced and the Ebay listings were being viewed by more and more buyers, with a noticeable number of regulars ‘following’ Katherine & Christine’s Ebay page and commenting on the exceptional service of sending out the badges within 48 hours. Sales increased even further in the last quarter of 2022 with many Queen Elizabeth related badges being in strong demand. At that year’s end, total sales stood at over £2,400 and everyone was pleased that the original idea had started to produce a useful income stream.This year, 2023, sales have just accelerated even further. The £3,000 sales target was reached in April, another £1,000 added by mid June and now by the first week of October, the total raised by selling old but obviously much-loved badges, has surpassed £5,000. Nine months to double what was achieved in the first two and a half years.
Whilst over 1,400 transactions have been made this year and many of those for multiple badges, with most of October, November and December still to go, the expectation is that many more Ebay badge sales will be processed benefitting Willow Tree.
Douglas Mills
“Thank you Katherine & Christine for your dedication and hard work to help raise money for our County Camp Site. This is an amazing achievement and we are very grateful for the support” The County Team & Willow Tree Committee
Donate Badges
Do you have old badges you wish to donate to the Willow Tree eBay Shop? Click the below link to email Katherine & Christine to arrange collection or drop off of your badges.