Jesmond resident Joanne Ibbitson and a group of volunteers hosted a jumble sale this past weekend in St George’s Church Hall on Osborne Road to raise money for Chengeta Wildlife, a small charity that provides anti-poaching training across Africa.

The aim of the jumble sale was not just to raise money; Ibbitson is an elephant enthusiast and wanted to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the mistreatment of elephants, of which she believes the general public are unaware.

Ibbitson told JesmondLocal: “people think that elephant poaching and the ivory trade isn’t affecting them but in many cases it helps to fund terrorism, so it is in everybody’s interest to stop it.”

St George’s Church Hall was full of people with an assortment of items for sale. The jumble sale offered a smorgasbord of items ranging from cushions to cotton socks.  Due to some generous donations, designer items from Burberry, J.K Bennet and Karen Millen were being sold for £1 or less. Alongside this there were toys, CD’s, kitchenware and a tombola.

Ibbitson told JesmondLocal during the sale that she hadn’t “set a target to make, just whatever people can give is fantastic”.

After the event, she updated JesmondLocal on total sales, saying she had managed to raise over £800 and “Chengeta Wildlife are thrilled – as are we.”

Ibbitson is an active member of the Action For Elephants UK group which hold regular marches in London to protest against the mistreatment of Elephants. Last year there was a global march for elephants which encompassed 133 cities. She has also written open letters to the president of China Xi Jinping and David Cameron asking them to tighten laws on the treatment of elephants.

For more information please see www.actionforelephantsuk.org.