Charity Lantern Walk to be held at Ragley

Warwickshire based bereavement support Charity Guy’s Gift will be holding its Christmas Lantern Walk once again on 12^th December at Ragley Hall.   The charity hopes to build on the success of last year’s event when around 30 families took part in the walk.  
The object is to allow children, young people and their families to take time to reflect on the life of someone special to them who has died at a time of year which can be difficult for bereaved families.

Stuart Potter, Service Manager at Guy’s Gift, said:  “Many of the people we support can find Christmas without a loved one a very daunting and isolating experience.  Christmas is a family orientated time of year and for children it should be a time of anticipation and fun.  For some children, when someone special has died, it can be a very lonely and sad time.

The Lantern Walk is a way for children and families to share their memories of that special person in a positive way, and an opportunity to meet others who may experience similar feelings.

Ragley Hall provides a fantastic setting for a very meaningful Lantern Walk that is part of the integrated support for bereaved children provided by the charity.”

The Walk will be taking place from 4pm-6pm through the Gardens at Ragley and local youngsters who have been affected by the death of someone close to then are welcome to take part providing they register with the organisers in advance.  
Guy’s Gift is a registered charity providing support for bereaved children, young people and their families in South Warwickshire following the death of a parent, sibling or other significant person in their life. 
For more information or to register for the Lantern Walk please contact Guy’s Gift on 0845 4673035 or visit www.guysgift.co.uk .

2010 Christmas Market set to be bigger and better than ever!

Ragley’s 2010 Christmas Market and Fayre is bigger and better than ever with over forty stalls taking over the ground floor of the House and a great selection of handmade and unusual products .  It will be the perfect place to pick up a special Christmas gift with stalls including jewellery and accessories, childrenswear, quilts and beauty products.  Plus there will be plenty of festive treats to stock up on with cakes, sweets, fudge and liqueurs.

 If you need a break from shopping, there will be carol singers and musicians performing on the South Staircase and Red Saloon at various times throughout the day, creating a great atmosphere.

For the younger ones, Father Christmas will be waiting in the Great Hall with a present for every child and there will be craft activities to keep them busy.  Our storyteller will also be gathering the children around the fire in the library with a traditional Christmas tale which will entertain all ages.

A warm Chritsmas welcome awaits

Hot food will be provided by Ragley Estate Meats in a covered marquee on the terrace along with hot drinks, traditional mince pies and mulled wine flowing.

According to event organiser Lisa Cope; “Following the success of last year’s event, we have been inundated with craftspeople and local retailers wanting to come along to the market, so we decided to increase the number of stalls in the House.  We are really looking forward to welcoming people to enjoy the shopping and the festive atmosphere.”

The Christmas Market and Fayre is taking place on 27^th & 28^th November from 10am-4pm each day and admission is £6 for Adults and £5 for Children.

For more information and a full list of stallholders visit www.ragleyhall.com or call 01789 762090.

Visitors Flock to Fireworks

Visitors flocked to Ragley Hall’s Bonfire & Fireworks event, which took place on Saturday 6^th December in the grounds of the stately home.

Nearly twice the number of people attended this year’s display as in 2009, bringing the total for the event to over 5,000.

Visitors enjoyed a display by Dragonfire Professional Fireworks and the reflection of the bonfire in the Lake proved to be an impressive spectacle.

Other attractions included a fire show, music provided by Touch FM, fairground rides and a range of food and drink stalls.

This is only the second year that Ragley has held a Bonfire Night event and the overwhelming number of visitors did cause local traffic problems.

According to Rebecca Smith, Marketing Executive at Ragley;

“We anticipated and prepared for a modest increase in visitors for this year, but the attendance exceeded our expectations and regrettably a number of cars were unable to gain entry.

As with any event where tickets are not sold in advance, it is very difficult to predict how many people will attend, but we felt that we were well prepared.  However, it seems that the poor weather on Friday night, when many other displays were taking place and the dry conditions on Saturday led to a much larger number of visitors than we had imagined.

We have received some excellent comments from visitors and we will look at all of our customer feedback when planning for next year’s event.”