H.R. Owen Specialist Cars warmed up for the festive season with a unique Christmas Event that combined fun with some serious fundraising.
A hardy crowd of customers and guests braved freezing temperatures to attend an entertainment-packed evening at Specialist Cars’ showroom in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
And amid all the entertainment and revelry, in excess of £1,000 was raised for Maggie’s, a leading national cancer care charity.
Maggie’s cancer care centres have been providing support to individuals and families dealing with cancer in the UK since 1996, when the first facility opened in Edinburgh. Founder Maggie Keswick Jencks developed the idea after her own cancer diagnosis, with the aim of creating a comfortable environment for cancer patients while they remained close to the medical treatment offered by hospitals.
Maggie’s opened its doors in Cheltenham in 2010 as the charity’s second site in England, and since then H.R. Owen Specialist Cars has formed a strong bond with both the patients and staff there.
Among the highlights of the Christmas fundraiser were performances by popular local entertainers, including live singer Phoebe Appleby, who brought the showroom alive with a dazzling repertoire of festive tunes, and magician Richard Parsons, whose array of tricks kept guests entranced all evening.
H.R. Owen was also generously supported by a host of local and national businesses.
These included Ben Creese Country Butchers, who provided a fantastic hog roast, AJ’s Catering, who served up festive treats, and Edible Art, whose creations looked gorgeous and tasted great. A gin bar tended by the Steeplechase Distillery ensured there were plenty of cocktails and mocktails to accompany the delicious fare.
Flowers from Bella Flora and scents from Temple Spa and Molton Brown helped create a beautiful ambience, while Bang and Olufsen provided top-of-the-range AV entertainment, Ian Coley Shooting School displayed an impressive collection of shotguns and Beards’ Jewellers showcased some stunning watches and jewellery.
And of course, as you’d expect of an event held in a car showroom, there was plenty of interest in the giant digital Scalextric Pro slot track – which prompted some extremely competitive racing among guests.
There was more fundraising via a prize draw in aid of Maggie’s picked by H.R. Owen brand director Craig Davison and Anna Mason from Maggie’s in Cheltenham, and at the time of writing more than £1,000 has been generated for the charity, with the final total likely to rise still further.
