The name's Bond...

I spent my Friday afternoon on a three hour train to Bristol and spent my Friday evening in a £48m manor house equipped with casino tables, dodgems, and wine. Perfect? Definitely. 

This night was in aid of Whizz-Kidz, our company's charity partner who provide electric wheelchairs and other mobility equipment for disabled children up and down the Uk. They are an AMAZING charity and as charity coordinator for our company I absolutely love ousting the fundraising for this charity. 

But this James Bond themed night was something I couldn't take an ounce of effort for. It was all arranged by our Bristol branch manager, who organised everything perfectly right down to a tee. The venue was Grittleton house in Chippenham, belonging to the family of one of our Bristol colleagues, who very amazingly kindly let us use their home for the evening. 

 

I arrived around 5pm and was shown to my room, which are all converted stables on the grounds about a 5 minute way gravel paved walk away from the main house. The rooms were basic but held all of the original features. My rooms was super warm and had a bunk bed plus 2 single beds, as the grounds feature a private school where a lot of kids come over to England throughout the summer to learn and stay. 

I got all dressed up and we were driven down to the main house in time for the night to start at 7pm. It started with a drinks reception (wine and more wine) before we were seated ready for a three course meal. 

Butternut squash soup, veg lasagne and mascarpone cheesecake = my idea of a three course meal. Can you believe our branch manager organised all of this for 140 people? And even the fact that 140 people paid to come to this event all suited and booted in their black ties and cocktail dresses all for a Whizz-Kidz. 

Here's the super man himself. Between the courses I helped him gather raffle ticket sales, these were the only profit for the night as the ticket cost covered everything provided on the night, and I'm happy to say we raised almost £1,000 - amazing!!!!

An entertainment company were busy setting up casino tables in the balls while we were eating, and once the raffle was over we used the voucher each person got on their dinner table to get some chips and have fun (the chips were all handed back at the end and no money was used, so it was definitely all in the name of fun). I had no idea how to play any of these games and after half an hour I was a champion;)

Then it was time for the DODGEMS. 

As it's been about 10 years since I've been on these I completely forgot how much fun they are. Everyone had a great (slightly tipsy) run around them and no one came off without a smile on their face. I was a bit apprehensive at first about my dress and shoes (must check my borrowed dress for marks later) but I just went for it and I can't remember the last time I laughed that much. 

Here's me and my partner in crime Sales Director. 

We got to bed around 2am and were greeted in the morning to a freshly cooked hot breakfast. 

These cafe bars are the original horses' stables - such a great idea to convert it into a different room without affecting the original features. 

My colleague dropped me back off at the station for a 10:15 train and I made it back home for 1pm. It was the best work event I had been to a long time and was made even better by adding to our annual fundraising amount for Whizz-Kidz. 

Dans x