Once again this Christmas, the Pearly King of Harrow generously gave him time to Home-Start Blackmore Vale in order to help raise crucial funds that enable us to continue to provide our valuable support to families across North & West Dorset and South Somerset.
The sight of the Pearly King of Harrow at Waitrose Gillingham always stops shoppers in their tracks. Many wanted to know more about the tradition and whether he was a real Pearly King. The Pearly King, David Hemsley, lives in the West Country now but inherited his title from his grandmother, a Pearly Queen from Harrow. He continues the Pearly Tradition of carrying out charitable work and meets regularly with other Pearly Kings and Queens in Covent Garden in London.
This year he wants to send a special thank you to all the shoppers in Waitrose for their generosity in these difficult time – and a huge thank you to the shoppers who returned to their cars to raid their parking money as our card machine was out of action!
The Pearlies collected just under £400 which was amazing and will go towards the cost of funding a volunteer for a year.
Once again, a huge thank you to Waitrose Gillingham for allowing us to collect again. Caroline Salt, a Trustee of Home-Start BV, would also like to thank the Pearly King for giving up his Sunday to make this collection such a success.
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