Afternoon Tea at The Palace

When two of our newer members proposed holding an afternoon tea party to raise funds for charities, we all enthusiastically agreed to proceed with the idea. The event was organised by the two ladies, Tracey, and Paula. During the planning, we decided that the funds raised were to largely be distributed between Young Minds, a national charity committed to promoting and improving the mental health of all children and young people, a cause close to Paula and Tracey's hearts, and Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary, a local animal sanctuary that rescues, rehabilitates, and rehomes a variety of animals in need.

Prior to the event, three-layer cake stands were made from old plates as well tea-pot cosies knitted. These were up for sale after the event.

On the day, Saturday 1st March, we all met up at the Ibstock Palace, hence the name Afternoon Tea at The Palace, and started preparing. Our guests started arriving at 2:00 pm and shown to their tables, where tea or coffee was brought to the table and a cake stand prepared based on the requirements specified on their booking form. The members or other volunteers freshly prepared all the food. A cake stand consisted of a top layer of scones, a middle layer of sandwiches, and the bottom filled with a variety of cakes.

Everything seems to go very well on the day. During the afternoon, a raffle was also undertaken.

At the end of the afternoon, any remaining food from the tables was boxed up to be taken away, plus remining food from the kitchen was also sold to be taken away and consumed at home.

We had incredibly positive comments both during the event, praising all aspects of the day, the organisation, the food in particular and the service, and we also received some lovely comments after the event. It was a lot of hard work to achieve what we did, but when the feedback was so positive along with the money raised, it was well worth it.

After we had calculated all the monies raised during the event, we were delighted to be able to announce that we will be sending £300 to each of the charities mentioned above.

So, a lot of hard work, but a fantastic result. Hopefully, we'll have recovered in the near future to plan and organise another similar event at some time in the future. Below are some pictures taken during the event.