A very secret Santa
Mark Palmer does his Christmas shopping at the Travelling Souk ‘I ’ve already spent £500 and I don’t even like shopping,’ says Jane Scott. ‘But I suppose that’s half the point of it.’ I suppose so. Better to spend money you’ve got on things you might not want than spend money you haven’t got on things you do want. Better still if there’s a charitable element to it all.
Jane Scott — tall, aristocratic, lots of dogs at her feet — is our hostess on a gloriously crisp autumn morning in West Sussex, not far from Petworth. And when I say ‘our’, I mean a collection of top-drawer, top totty with plenty of time on their bejewelled hands and me. Oh, yes, well, there is one other man here but he’s a stallholder, so I’m not counting him as an invited guest. He’s trade.
There are plenty of charity sales going on in drawing-rooms up and down the country but this is the grandest of the lot. Indeed, the organisers of what’s called The Travelling Souk make a point of stressing that to host one of these dos requires a property of some considerable repute — because the idea is that having a chance to snoop around someone else’s pad is a big incentive for turning up in the first place.
Hence a healthy crowd (almost 300) gathered this month at Manton House, near Marlborough, where Lucy Sangster resides in a degree or two of stately, stud-farm style. And there were good turnouts at Shellingford House in Oxfordshire, hosted by Emma Brett, wife of the Oxford barrister Matt Brett, and at Delbury Hall, Shropshire, the mag nificent Georgian house belonging to Patrick and Lucinda Wrigley. Next year, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford have agreed to host a souk at Woburn Abbey.
‘There is definitely a social element to it,’ says Georgiana Grimston, who launched the Travelling Souk four years ago with a friend, Anna Craven. ‘What we didn’t want was to organise yet more boring charity sales in church halls with everyone looking grumpy. The idea is to have fun and, quite frankly, it’s an opportunity for people who might never be invited to dinner to have a good look round someone’s house and meet other women in their area. The exclusivity element is important.’ Of course, it’s not really that exclusive. You can apply via the website to be put on the mailing list and it’s unlikely you’ll be rejected. Then, once you have received an invitation, you turn up on the day and pay a £5 entrance fee. Georgiana and Anna have almost 150 stallholders on their books, but only let about 40 take part at any one sale.
The deal is that each stallholder pays £70 to set up shop and then gives 10 per cent of her takings to the hostess, who will have earmarked a charity of her choice to receive a big cheque once any expenses have been taken care of. This year more than £50,000 went to good causes of one kind or other.
Jane Scott is raising money for Chestnut Tree House, a West Sussex hospice for children. In her drawing-room, I come across the only other man in the house, Oliver Preston, The Field cartoonist, who is busy selling copies of his book Shall We Join The Men? (www.oliverpreston.com).
‘It’s a chance for me to shift my back catalogue and meet some of my customers,’ he says. ‘I’m amazed how jolly everyone gets — although it must help that the wine comes out at 11 a.m. The key is where you are positioned in the house. Avoiding the upstairs is crucial.’ Very much downstairs and doing a roaring trade is Lady Norreys from Ayrshire (www.norreys. net) with her shoes, bags and boots of Spanish leather. Next to her, Anna Craven, who lives much of the time in Vietnam, is standing by a sofa that is heaving with fine linen sheets and bedspreads. Outside in the hall Nadia Mensah-Acogny has a tempting display of goodies sourced from her native Africa (www.afriqya.com), while Lizzie Grant (globalandgorgeous.com) is in pole position occupying the hall table with products ranging from a silver champagne bucket to a naughty little tome called Shag Yourself Slim.
‘I aim to take about £1,000 at each sale,’ says Lizzie. ‘The point about the Travelling Souk is that actually the atmosphere is as different from a normal souk as you can get. It’s one of the most civilised ways to shop and you get to feel that you’re part of an exclusive club even if you aren’t, if you see what I mean.’
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