Our Readers’ Holiday
In December My Weekly readers and staff came together for a fabulous pre-Christmas holiday at the wonderful Warner Hotel, Alvaston Hall in Cheshire – and what fun we had!
Cast your mind back to Monday December 12, and what do you remember? For us, it was the fact it was cold. Very cold… minus 9 degrees in fact. It was against that chilly backdrop that a couple of hundred readers of My Weekly and our sister magazine, The People’s Friend, came together in the north west of England for a few days of festive cheer.
Alvaston Hall is on the outskirts of the small town of Nantwich, and set in vast grounds filled with trees, ponds and greenery, and with everything covered in twinkling frost, it was postcard perfect. Inside, Christmas decorations lined the foyer and a real coal fire provided warmth to counter the cold outside air.
The aim of the Turkey and Tinsel break is to pack all of the joy of the season into four days. So, arriving on Monday was effectively Christmas Eve and we were greeted with hot mulled wine and mince pies, as well as being treated to a few musical numbers from the Warner entertainment team.
It was the perfect beginning to what would turn out to be a week packed with fun.
Over three subsequent days we ate, drank and were very merry! From a full-on Christmas dinner to a “new year” countdown on the last night, we enjoyed the full festive experience.
The entertainment was fabulous!
We took part in a range of activities including cardmaking, talks on various parts of our magazines, and everything from archery to ballroom dancing! Luckily there was plenty of time for relaxing too. Alvaston Hall has a number of lovely restaurants and bars, so tea and coffee was flowing, as was the chat. It was a great opportunity for us to speak to readers and for them to be able to ask us questions about My Weekly over a cuppa and a biscuit.
My Weekly Editor Stuart said,
What a great four days we had! We love Christmas at My Weekly and this was a chance to do something a bit different and spend some time with our readers. We laughed, ate, drank, and had loads of fun. We also never stopped talking!
“A big thanks to Warner for providing such a great location for our holiday and a huge round of applause to the amazing entertainments team who put on wonderful festive shows for us every day. Most of all, I’d like to thank the My Weekly and People’s Friend readers for coming along. A holiday is only as good as the people you spend it with and we spent our festive break with some amazing people! I can’t wait for the next one.”
My Weekly’s Cookery Editor Hope Wilson was one of the team who made the trip. She said, “I had a fabulous time on the My Weekly and People’s Friend reader holiday. It was so lovely to meet the readers in person and have a chance to connect with them. My favourite activity on the trip was Stuart’s Mary’s Meals talk where we heard incredibly moving stories and saw how the money you donate goes to a truly worthy cause.”
After four fun-filled days, it was time to go. We met up one last time in the picturesque Fountain Bar where we had a final cuppa and Tunnocks Caramel Wafer with our new friends. It was a great chance to reflect on the past few days before we all headed home.
One reader said, “Our room was super. It was a well-run break and I’d love to go again!”
Another added,
I enjoyed the entertainment very much. Warner really know how to put on a show!
We’re 100% in agreement with those comments. We had so much fun and we will be doing something similar again this year. Watch this space!
Allison Hay
I joined the "My Weekly" team thirteen years ago and, more recently, "The People's Friend". I love the variety of topics we cover both online and in the magazines. I manage the digital content for the brands, sharing features and information on the website, social media and in our digital newsletters.
