7:00am Thursday 29th July 2010
By Sam McGregor
A BICESTER charity has become a Guinness World Record holder for the biggest tombola.
Eve Well Women’s Charity smashed the current record of 4,100 tombola prizes by 829.
But it was touch and go as to whether the group would reach its target as days before the July 10 deadline it was 700 prizes short of the former world record.
Sheer hard work and banging on doors helped the cause and, by the start of Bicester Carnival earlier in the month, the group was celebrating setting a new world record of 4,929 prizes.
Eve’s appeal was launched in March and the group lobbied businesses, shoppers at Sainsbury’s, Banbury, and even completed a pub crawl to boost gift numbers.
Hundreds of people got into the spirit and prizes came in thick and fast from across Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Wiltshire.
Anji Hall, chairman of Eve trustees, which offers advice and workshops for isolated women, said: “It was truly amazing how generous people were.
“It is hard to say the number of people that donated as we stood outside Sainsbury’s in Banbury and managed to collect three trolleys full of prizes.”
The charity, set up last September at Heyford Park, near Bicester, launched an appeal for prizes in March ready for the town carnival earlier this month.
On the day, visitors won about 1,500 of the prizes and the charity got a cash boost of £1,000.
Ms Hall said: “We just want to say a big massive thank-you to everyone who helped or donated goods. We are very proud of this achievement.
“I think everyone had a great time at the carnival.
“We had many of the customers come back again and again.
“They liked the idea that they could win a really good prize or a not-so-good prize.
“We had one guy who kept coming back and his wife had to drag him away in the end. He must have walked away with three bags of prizes.
“He was nearly on the way to being abe to run his own tombola.”
The remaining 3,000-plus prizes will be used at a smaller tombola at a local fete, at another to mark Eve’s first birthday in September, or sold at a car boot sale to raise cash for the charity.
Food items have been donated to Bicester Food Bank.
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