More Prizes from the Lovely People of Leicester

I know I am banging on a lot about my charity event at the moment, but please be patient with me. It is for the most excellent of causes, and I only have a fortnight now to work wonders.

Yesterday I posted a list of some of the many fantastic prizes that you, my kind internet friends, have donated, and which it is possible to win if you buy one of my lovely raffle tickets.

I  also promised yesterday that I would highlight some of the marvellous work done by local people and businesses for our cause.  People have been unstintingly generous, which given the fact that nearly all the people I am about to mention do not know me from Adam, have never read my blog and were put on the spot by me and my children, is utterly fantastic.

Here are some of the prizes you can win that have been given to us by the splendidly shiny denizens of Leicester:

Anna Webb at The Exchange Bar, Leicester, has offered us a bottle of wine to be drunk at her lovely establishment as a raffle prize.  Anna has also been extraordinarily helpful with her time and ideas, and it was because of her that Michelle ended up being interviewed on Radio Leicester this week.

The Exchange is a great bohemian style bar just opposite the new Curve Theatre in Leicester. With mix and match tables and chairs, a relaxed atmosphere and a really friendly staff it’s a brilliant place to hang out. They’re just as happy to serve you coffee and muffins as they are drink drinks, which is great. I’ve been there a few times in the past after the theatre or coming from the Phoenix Cinema, which is just down the road, and it’s always been a welcoming place to go.

Nick Skinner, manager of The Almanack restaurant and bar in High Cross has offered us a free dinner for two in his exceptional establishment.  I have blogged about The Almanack before.  I go there A LOT.  My mum and dad go there A LOT, even UE goes there A LOT when he’s back in Leicester.  The food is fabulous. The service is great.  In the mornings if you go for a coffee they have free toast, which you can make yourself, all set up on the bar.  It’s one of my favourite places to go in Leicester, and I’m really hoping I win this prize myself.

The very trendy Indy Hair Salon on the corner of Guildhall and Loseby Lane have given us a free cut and blow dry voucher with their stylist, Oli.  Indy is somewhere I have had my hair done several times in the past, and they have always done an excellent job.  They really saved my bacon one time when I was on my way to a business meeting (this was when I had a life!), and realised I had been in such a rush I had forgotten to do my hair (a frequent problem for me). They made me look sleek and beautiful and capable. It’s a tall order, but they pulled it off.

The ever lovely, Alistair Bell at Leicester’s Printing.Com on Charles Street has given us a £25 voucher for any printing you may want doing.  I always use Printing.Com for all my printing needs, which over the years have been many and various, and they have never, ever let me down.  Alistair is a superstar, who can really bring your ideas to life, and is extremely friendly to boot.  He has also designed some great posters for me, which will be going up in the next week.

Amabis jewellers, on High Street in Leicester have given me a £20 voucher to spend on the jewellery of your choice. This is another win I rather covet. I do not do jewellery really, but every now and again I buy a piece even I can’t resist. Amabis always have something drool worthy, and the last time I bought something was a really delicate silver necklace strung with drops of honey coloured amber from their shop.  Covetable things is what they sell.

One of my favourite Leicester stores, Niche, have also been super generous. Catherine, the owner, was exceptionally kind, giving me two beautiful keepsake boxes, one for storing memories, and one, which would be perfect as a christening gift, which is a beautiful, blue padded gift box for a boy.  Catherine was also helpful with ideas and suggestions, I cannot thank her enough.

The lovely people at Set, gift store in St. Martin’s Square who have one of the trendiest gift shops in the city, gave me a gorgeous mini hot water bottle with a really cute knitted retro cover in a kind of Cath Kidston style.

Jake, the very laid back dude who does the marketing for our fabulous new arts cinema, Phoenix Square, not only donated two comp tickets for the film of the winner’s choice, plus free drinks, but also the most amazing limited edition print. It’s a cell of a digital rendition of Leicester as a soundscape. It looks like an exploding icicle and it’s very, very cool indeed.  Jake was also really helpful with ideas and suggestions when I started out, for which many thanks.

Jo and Christian who run the excellent swimming lessons Oscar and Tallulah both attend in Husband’s Bosworth, have given me a free Little Splashers baby and toddler swimming lesson.  They were hugely sympathetic and do lots of work with and for Tommys’ charity, so the fact that they were able to find room for us as well was remarkably generous of them.

The delightful lady at The Original Cookware Company in St Martin’s Square Leicester, where I go to assuage my Emma Bridgewater habit, donated a cute chicken egg cup and cosy set, which my children are all hoping to win.

The Good Earth restaurant, which I have blogged about many times before as one of my best loved eateries, also has a rather gorgeous shop downstairs from their restaurant. The owner kindly gave us an adorable gift set of a towel and pretty soaps all done up to look like a chocolate cake with frosting. It is something I am keeping well away from Tallulah.

My picture framers, the ever brilliant Frog and Mouse Picture Company have been extraordinarily generous, as I knew they would be. They have donated two £25 vouchers redeemable against either framing, or one of their exquisite pictures.  They are always a joy to visit and work with, and have the best customer service on the planet. FACT.

My delightful friend Barbara von Ow, who runs a Mary Kay cosmetics business in Leicester, is giving me some Mary Kay goodie bags. You may remember that I have blogged about Barbara and her skills on several occasions in the past.  She is a superstar of cosmetics and her products are totally fantastic.  I swear by the mineral face powder, and Barbara is the least pretentious and best make up sales lady in the universe.

I must also give a special shout out to Merry over at her blog, Patch of Puddles. Merry read the guest blog I wrote about Michelle and her son Keelan over at Heather’s blog: NotefromLapland.  She sent me a message offering a prize from her fantastic business: ‘Play Merrily Toys’, which was not only very generous of her, but really touched my heart in another way.  Merry too lost a son last year to SIDS, and knows exactly what Michelle is going through, because she is going through it herself.  The fact that she has taken the time to connect with and help, someone else in the same situation is really heart warming.

Take a trip over to her blog.  She writes beautifully. She’s worth reading.

So, takes a deep breath, that’s what we have so far.  There will be other things, I am sure.

Remember, tickets are £1.00 each, which is cheap at half the price.  No, I do not really know what that means either.  Anyway, contact me if you want a ticket, want to know more about the great businesses featured in this post, or if you just want to shoot the breeze because it’s better than thinking about the Royal Wedding.

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