With just another two weeks to go our Christmas Fair has proved to be a big hit with visitors and members alike. So if you haven’t yet popped along then you have until Sunday 19th December to rectify that situation.

Members only exclusive private viewing

There have been a number of events that have taken place already with some more planned before it ends. There was a very popular members only exclusive private view which was attended by over 50 members and volunteers. Bubbles and wine were served at the two hour event which was a very successful evening indeed.

Story-Time with Santa

This event was held over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of December with six shows in total over the two days. The format worked extremely well with children and parents cheerfully greeted and welcomed. The north room was tastefully decorated and our guests both young and old (some very young indeed) arrived to the sound of festive music which created the right “Christmassy” atmosphere. Parents sat around the room on chairs, whilst the children sat on the ground on comfortable mats and bean bags. Santa was ably assisted by volunteer elves and once the inevitable excitement of his arrival had subsided, he was able to read a selection of suitable Christmas and Santa related stories, followed by distribution of presents and a photo opportunity or two.

This event was brilliantly organised by Polly Harrison, our new RH events organiser volunteer, and judging by the professionalism and enthusiasm of her and her volunteer team we can look forward to many more enjoyable events in and around The Grange and The Grange Gardens next year. Thank you Polly!

Tea and Mince Pies during the fair

As you can see from the illustration below the information room at The Grange has been transformed into a cosy tea room for the duration of the fair. This is ably run by Lesley and her staff from the Grange Tea Garden and is a must visit! Don’t worry about the calories – it’s CHRISTMAS!

A big thank you

As you can probably gather this event took an enormous amount of planning beforehand with all hands to the pump. It has been a very tough year for artists and craftspeople who have not been able to exhibit and sell their work. Our gallery director Fiona Kirkaldy wanted to make sure that local artists had the first opportunity to try put some of that damage right.

Fiona said ” We decided to offer our stalls to members of the local community first and most of the artists exhibiting this year are from the local area. We are attempting to make it a real community event by introducing children’s shows etc. and hopefully by reaching people in our community that don’t often come to the gallery we can promote RH, increase our membership and create sense of pride and belonging in the community. Hopefully this event will go from strength to strength and we can expand to the north room in future years…”

She went on further to specifically praise her gallery manager Louise Arnold who had not only worked constantly alongside the team during the planning stages but had “worked tirelessly to make the Christmas Fair a success, Louise has volunteered her time every single day to work the till. She has done a great service to Rottingdean Heritage and without her time and energy the Christmas Fair would not have been the success it has been”.

Pat Rosine, our volunteer organiser and the army of volunteers were also singled out, “I would also like to thank Pat for her fantastic work at rallying the stewards to sign-up in large numbers and of course the volunteers themselves”.

“There is still lots of great stuff still on sale for both adults and crafty stuff for kids, so come along and support the work of RH and our fantastic local artists”.

Our chairman Dr Chris Davidson added: “The success of this year’s wonderful Christmas Fair is down to the teamwork at The Grange, led by Fiona, Louise and Pat. The building has probably not been more festive for a hundred years, and perhaps not even then! And it has been wonderful that Lesley has been able to lay on refreshments at the weekends for all the visitors. Congratulations and thanks to all who are involved”.