Luxe afternoon tea at Alnwick Garden raises more than £10,000 for the Bright Garden Appeal
Fasdhion, food and fundraising was the order of the day at an exclusive Luxe event at an iconic Northumberland attraction last month.
Luxe Magazine’s Fundraising Afternoon at The Alnwick Garden brought together 100 guests in September, for a special event designed to raise funds.
Along with being an award-winning visitor attraction, The Alnwick Garden is a charity which uses nature and creativity to improve wellbeing, learning and opportunities for people of all ages through community and education programmes.
Guests arrived via a private garden entrance to a Champagne reception before being officially welcomed by Her Grace Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland.
This was followed by a traditional afternoon tea before guests enjoyed a fashion show by Fenwick and a panel discussion featuring inspirational leading regional figures.
A charity raffle and auction gave a further opportunity to raise money for the charity and the event drew to a close with music and dancing.
The Fundraising Afternoon was the brainchild of Luxe Director Debi Coldwell who was inspired by her late grandmother, Ella - and came about following a throwaway comment during a meeting with Lauren St Hilaire, Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships at the venue.
My grandma always said if she lived to the age of 100, she wanted to celebrate by going to The Alnwick Garden to have afternoon tea with the Duchess.
Debi Coldwell added, “Earllier this year, I was having a conversation with Lauren and just mentioned it in passing and how great it would be to have an event there.
“The next day, Lauren came back and said the Duchess loved the idea and was keen to do it…and it all just went from there. Everyone loves The Alnwick Garden, it’s the most beautiful place to have afternoon tea and we knew we could create a wonderful event which would also help its charity.
“Tickets flew out of the door and we had some incredible support from a host of businesses all keen to get on board and support us with auction items and raffle prizes and just wanting to support the event in any way we could.
“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Duchess along with Lauren and Hospitality Events Manager Cerys James for helping Luxe create a memorable event along with everyone who came, donated prizes and supported the event.”
Plans are already underway for next year’s event, with dates and further information expected to be released soon.
