July 2021 – Sheepover and Shoebox Shopping

This month it’s the Sheepover at The Farm Animal Sanctuary, this month’s theme for the Link to Hope Charity Shoebox scheme, plus any good deals I’ve come across to help you fill your shoebox.

The Farm Animal Sanctuary Sheepover

As I mentioned last month the Farm Animal Sanctuary at Little Middleton near Evesham is holding a Sheepover.  It’s on Saturday 24 July from 4:00pm onwards.  Take a tent and spend the night with the rescued farm animals.  Tea and coffee on sale as well as the option to buy food on Saturday evening from The Vegan Street Diner. 

To book please visit their website at https://www.thefarmanimalsanctuary.co.uk/sheepover

Link to Hope

The theme for July is gifts for men.  As the calendar states men enjoy gifts too, eg work gloves, DIY Tools, tape measures, belts, ties, hankerchiefs.  It’s usually possible to buy a pair of work gloves in Poundland or One Below, but if you are doing 10 or more boxes or know others who are doing some so can swap items then it’s worth looking on Ebay or Amazon as you can sometimes get a better deal if you are buying 10 or 20 pairs. 

I tend to buy screwdriver sets from Poundland – it does vary how many are in a set and can be between 4 and 6 screwdrivers.  I tend to divide them up between a couple of shoe boxes and put at least one Phillips and one Crosshead screwdriver in a shoe box.  You can also get tape measures for £1.00 in Poundland and One Below. 

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I don’t think I’ve ever put a belt or tie in a shoe box, but a belt certainly seems a good idea (personally I’m not so sure about a tie, but they wouldn’t take up much room.)  I haven’t found any good deals on belts – even looking in local charity shops.  I usually try and put cotton hankies in the elderly boxes.  I managed to get some Mens cotton hankies from One Below – a pack of 3 for £1.00. 

The other item I always put in the boxes is a pack of safety razors.  I usually buy packs of 5 from Tesco or Sainsburys for 30p, but when I looked in Tesco a few weeks ago they didn’t have any, and when I looked on line when I got home I couldn’t see them online.  I did manage to get some in Sainsburys and they are still showing on line, however when I went in this week they hadn’t restocked so I would suggest buying them now if your local store has any.  Home Bargains had packs of 5 Bic safety razors for 50p.

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I put biros in all the boxes and Poundland seem to be the best value.  And of course there is that well known dad gift of socks!!  Poundstretcher/Bargain Buys have packs of 3 pairs or either trainer or sports socks for £1.00.  I tend to divide them up and put one pair in a box to allow room for some socks for kids or for the mom in the family box.  With the elderly boxes I sometimes just put a couple of pairs in on the assumption that if the box goes to a couple, they can probably both make use of them.

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Good deals this month

In addition to the mens socks at Poundstretcher – 3 pairs of sports socks for £1.00, (they are £1.00 not £2.00 as it says on the label),  Asda are good value for children’s school style socks – with 7 pairs for £3.00 – this is the normal price, they also had packs of 7 pairs of ladies ankle socks for £3.00.

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Poundland have children’s socks on offer with 4 pairs for £1.00 or 2 pairs of Paws Patrol socks for 50p.  In my local store they were in the bargain bins near to the check outs.

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My local Accessorize also has some very good deals on accessories that are slightly damaged or maybe missing an item.  I got a silver headband for 5p!!!!!  It said on the package that it was dented but it doesn’t look dented to me.  I also got a small charm for 5p, and a pretty flower hair grip for 10p which should have been one of a pair, and a broken beaded anklet for 10p which does need some repair work. 

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Hobby Craft have some wooden Christmas decoration packs for 25p and 50p which can be decorated with paints or feltpens. 

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And finally, Aldi have reduced some fabric fat quarters packs to 99p.  Each pack contains six fat quarters.  There are a variety of different patterns, but I just bought 2 packs.

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