Brocante le Cercle au Monde Boutique | News from the newspaper

‘We’re going to start again, we have a room!’

RODEN – Recently, the Circle had to close its doors. After many unsuccessful attempts to find another location after the library terminated the lease, the volunteers were undeterred. We worked hard behind the scenes to find a new space.

Volunteer Saskia Blaauw was very disappointed. “First of all, we were leashed everywhere. By the municipality and by the estate agent Van Hoogen. He kept turning us down, even when there were people offering us a property and telling us their property was going vacant. “I decide who comes in,” he said at one point. Very special. So at some point we just canceled it.
Those who regularly visit the library will soon notice that the section where the Circle was located is still empty. “Jolanda Timmer, the project manager, even literally said that she still had no idea what was going to happen in this room. We could have just sat there. Not only are you putting us at a disadvantage with this, but also all those people who could have bought good clothes for next to nothing. People who earn just too much to go to the clothing bank, but can barely make ends meet.

Good news
Fortunately, there is now good news to report. Volunteer Nicole Meijer is radiant when she can bring the news: “We’re going to start again, we have a room!” We enter the Wereldwinkel. We have a little less space there than at the library, but a pocket can be adjusted. Here the knife cuts from all sides, it’s nice for customers to visit two stores at once, the World Shop receives visitors who pick us up and vice versa. We are very happy about it!’
Unfortunately, Roden and its surroundings have to wait a little longer. “We will be opening in March, the target date is March 1. This is because the world shop is very busy during the months of November and December. They are already busy, because we can also use the upper floor. And there they are already working to make room for us. They have also approached us. We would not have dared to hope for such good news a few months ago.
Saying goodbye was difficult for the volunteers. “We had people crying very hard. For the volunteers, it was more than voluntary work, they had good contacts with each other and with the customers here.
Those who donate clothes to the Circle receive 50% of the profits. People have to watch themselves after two months, then they can pick up the unsold again. If they don’t collect it, the items will go to charity. It can always be another goal.