Ascot Ladies Day was again fantastic and despite the recent bad weather the sun finally shone on us and our guests!

Held at the Crathorne Hall Hotel in Yarm it was enjoyed by 52 guests. who were greeted with a bucks fizz before being welcomed by Sue Hewgill Peterson (founder of We Can Dance). She explained all about our charity and the work it carries out in supporting dance in 22 schools. This was supported by a short video showing the recent performance of one of our schools at Hardwick Hall. This video was created for us by Marc Thorneycroft who also took some great photos of everyone later in the day!

Thanks to the hotel who served a beautiful lunch we were all able to enjoy the full day’s programme from Ascot via a large screen, commencing with the Royal Parade . Lucy of Artichoke (Grange Road, Darlington) again supported us with her beautifully arranged flowers in what has become our traditional trade mark at this event – tea cups and saucers. These were given as gifts to one lucky person on each table.

Catherine Hart, milliner, again provided the most gorgeous hats for many of our guests to try on, and hire if wanted, at just £10 for the occasion, with all proceeds kindly donated by Catherine to We Can Dance.

We enjoyed watching all the racing and the added spice of the racing competition. Congratulations to all our winners!

The day was full of fun with a spectacular raffle draw and a presentation of flowers for the winner of the Best Dressed Lady competition .

We must thank everyone for supporting us, especially Crathorne Hall Hotel for their contribution to the raffle prizes plus their amazing staff for their help throughout the day (especially with IT issues!) and helping us to raise a magnificent £1,519 for We Can Dance!

Click on this event to see pictures from the day!