Approximately sixty vendors from Lansdowne, Wetton and Ottery hosted a Market Day on the premises at no extra cost of the St. Timothy’s Church in Wetton on Saturday 29 October to raise funds for neighbourhood watch vehicles.
The event was attended by William Akim, councillor for Ward 66, and he engaged with the stall holders.
“I started the market day previously with 22 vendors twice at my home. I own a business and wanted to leverage off other small businesses and clients as my business struggled to grow. Due to the success of the two market days prior to this one, our neighbourhood watch and a few other community members got together and asked the church for some assistance with the latest one. We were granted a once-off market and planning took two weeks. Vendors completed forms, we planned the layout and marketed the day at small businesses in our area. We also asked each vendor to share the market day on their social platforms,” says Tasneem Karriem-Alexander, event organiser.
“My aim has always been to help where it is needed. I enjoy giving my time to assist people in need and felt this was the best way to do it.
“I gave people an opportunity to become entrepreneurs and market their items to our communities. It was such an amazing feeling to be able to do this,” she says.
This vision was shared by Diane Roux, volunteer at Ottery, Wetton and Lansdowne (OWL) Neighbourhood Watch and Aziza Ebrahim, principal of Jumpstart Pre-School in Kenwyn.
Karriem-Alexander is grateful to them for pushing the vision.
“The market was held from 10:00 until 15:00 in the parking area of the church. The stalls cost R50 each and the monies raised was for vehicles for our NHW.
“Goods on sale were from the 50 plus vendors and it was a mix of established businesses, community members and small businesses in the Lansdowne, Wetton and Ottery area. We offered boerewors rolls, the stall run by the NHW and money raised went to the NHW to help them keep up the good work they do for our community,” she says.
Other stalls sold a variety of goods, like cakes, corn, savouries, koesisters, eggs, olive oil, salamis, donuts, sweets, pancakes, seafood, juices, fruit, veggies, coffee and mocktails.
“We also hosted a few brick-n-brac stalls, clothing stalls, Tupperware, Shzen, Pallet projects, bedding, Coche items, novelties, handcrafted items, bin sanitizers, jewellery, a nursery and imported cleaning products. There was something for everyone. The market was well-attended and we were chuffed at the support we received. Over 500 people attended the market and it was phenomenal for our first one.
“Our dream is to have a permanent venue for our vendors where they don’t need to pay to participate. We want to see people thrive, feed their families and empower them to make it for themselves. The support we received from the communities was nothing short of incredible. Without support, we couldn’t have called it a success,” Karriem-Alexander says.
She assures the OWL NHW that more market days will be held as soon as a permanent home is secured.
“We will reach out to our local ward councillors and the City of Cape Town to assist us in the future, as we hit walls and maybe it was too short notice. Our community has been asking for this and all we ask is for the opportunity to do this, with the assistance from the City to help small businesses to get back on their feet again,” she says.
- For more information contact wettoncommunitymarket@gmail.com
