For those of you who do not read on Twitter, I just wanted to let you know that our gift has been received:

A big thank you to Richard for acknowledging our Christmas pressie. Sorry it wasn’t socks, Richard. We could’ve bought you your favourite Christmas gift and sent you 155 pairs of funky knitted footwear with our proceeds, but maybe that would’ve gone beyond the scope of your sock drawer. 🧦🧦🧦🧦 Anyway, your acknowledgment means a lot to everyone who is involved in these fundraisers, from crafters and donors, to tweeps, commenters and rebloggers, because it shows us that our “gift in lieu” is appreciated. Thank you!

We have also received an automated donation receipt from MuchLoved that includes thanks from LOROS:

I am sure that LOROS is appreciative of our gift, too, because the pandemic has made fundraising very difficult for them, as they wrote to us earlier this autumn.

Now, answering a couple of questions…

Chattypatra on Twitter asked me a couple of questions that I’d like to answer now. Let me preface that by saying that I am absolutely overwhelmed by your generosity because, during this financially difficult year, you have raised a big chunk of money not just *once* for the birthday fundraiser, but *twice*. It has to be acknowledged that there are many among us fans, who have lost sources of income due to pandemic-enforced lay-offs, so I had *no* expectations whatsoever regarding this second fundraiser. Thank you for your generosity! So, in answer to Chatty’s question – in August 2020 we generated 3,100 £. Combined with the December proceeds we come to a total of 4652.82 £ – or 465 pairs of socks – for the fundraising efforts this year. Staggering!

Chatty’s second question referred to the final proceeds of the Astrov RAPS. I’ll take the opportunity to note the individual proceeds (gross!!!) of the various items. (Sorry, these are in Euro, as opposed to the final numbers above in Pounds, due to that being the currency in which the donations had to be transferred.)

Empire Magazine……………………50.00 €

Nowhere in Particular Sign……..41.50 €

Astrov Dome………………………….66.50 €

Astrov RAPS………………………….94.50 €

Uncle Vanya Script………………..51.00 €

Times Magazine……………………27.00 €

Spooks 7 DVD………………………41.00 €

Peaches Washbag………………..31.00 €

Hobbit Keychain…………………..50.50 €

RA Playing Cards………………..155.00 €

Metro Newspaper…………………28.00 €

Crucible Programme…………….41.55 €

RA Autograph………………………85.00 €

Jane Austen Fan Pack 1……….31.00 €

Jane Austen Fan Pack 2……….31.00 €

Journal Cover………………………38.00 €

Robin Hood DVD………………….10.00 €

Robin Hood CD…………………….28.00 € 

Note: These are the winning bid prices gross – fees and postage not deducted, hence total does not match final net proceeds given before!

In case of interest, these are the individual proceeds for each of the crafty items put on sale via Etsy:

Fan Pendants……………………….59.50 €

RA Magnets…………………………58.50 €

Wooden Signs………………………24.00 €

Snowbaubles………………………120.00 €

RA Ornaments…………………….424.00 €

Scrunchies……………………………79.00 €

Face Masks…………………………210.00 €

Bracelets…………………………….127.30 €

Note: The Etsy proceeds above are gross and do not reflect reductions due to postage and fees.

Sweet stuff! Thank you again to everyone involved.

I’ll now try and reply to comments that I shamefully neglected over the last week. Much love to all!