Tim nets thank you from RNLI after collecting donations in Rother Market, Stratford
IT’S Christmas so what better time to catch up with Stratford’s well-known fishmonger – Tim Gardiner - who likes to rock the boat and raise money for charity.
Tim has just received a “thank you” from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for the £5,000 he and his customers have donated since 2008 and it’s all down to a model lifeboat at his stall in Rother Market, Stratford.
“The kids love putting coins in the tiny lifeboat because it rocks as the money drops down. I probably raise about £40 a month which the RNLI volunteers collect and in the end it all adds up. I think what the RNLI do is absolutely amazing. I’m a fishmonger so – for me - it makes sense to support those who save lives at sea,” Tim said.
Tim’s Christmas and New Year work schedule diary means getting up at 3.30am and fishing through the 150 orders he has to line up for his own Fishy Business stall which includes weekly visits to Stratford, Warwick and Kenilworth.
“I was trained as a 17-year-old by Jack Codling who was a fishmonger and then I worked for my father - Colin – who ran Simpsons Fishmongers in Henley Street until he retired. I’ve always been in the fish trade and own my stall at the top end of the market in Stratford. You get to know all the different varieties of fish and after 50 years, there’s nothing much I don’t know about the fish side of my work. This Christmas, lobster from The Faroe Islands is proving a very popular choice. I just want to wish a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of my customers,” said Tim.
