Taking Underground dining to new heights...

[Hari Covert]

Back last year I was approached by Yalding Church Preservation Society (YCPS) a registered charity that is tasked with assisting in the upkeep of the fabric of the building of St Peter & St Paul's Church in the village centre of Yalding, Kent to perhaps host a special dinner for them. I have since been trying to see how best we could assist in their fundraising and help them in a novel and memorable way.

Well we have already physically done a dinner underground … now we will be attempting to do a dinner above ground… well above ground. In fact we can get no higher than on its roof or to be precise at the top of its tower.

Following much negotiation with all relevant parties we can now reveal that this one off event will take place on Midsummer’s Eve namely Saturday 23rd June 2012 when in conjunction with the YCPS we will be hosting a very special dinner on the top of St Peter & St Paul's Church Yalding… six lucky guests will sit down to a sumptuous four-course meal on what we hope will be a warm and sultry summer's evening with a view to die for!

So how do you book your places? Well, we thought for such a unique dining opportunity we would make this different and a fun way whilst raising some much needed funds to ensure the upkeep of this village’s heritage.

So we have set up a specific fundraising page here that will be helping to raise much needed funds for the continued maintenance of the church. Fundraising today is very challenging and also competitive for so many worthwhile causes. You will also be aware we do like to do our bit to help so we thought this would be a great way to assist the YCPS in what we hope is an unusual and imaginative way.

So how will it all work? Well, for every £1 donated your name will be put into a virtual hat.

So for a £10 donation it will mean your name will be in the draw ten times…then for £50 it will be fifty times!

Please note if you should donate anonymously your name cannot be entered into the draw.

When we make the draw (date and place to be confirmed soon) the first three names will then be invited to attend with a friend/partner as our guests to the sumptuous and unusual dinner at the top of the tower.

For this very unique chance to take our covert dining to a new level there are however a few conditions to ensure our diners' safety.

All participants will need to be over 18 years of age.

All participants to the dinner on the tower will also be required to sign a disclaimer that they are mounting the tower at their own risk.

You will be required to wear sensible clothing and shoes (no high heels for ladies or gents for that matter!)

You will also be supervised at all times for your own safety. If weather is bad (heavy rain and wind) the event/dinner will be transferred to a location inside the church itself.

As this is such a unique event we also felt we should celebrate in style with as many as possible so the dinner will be preceded by a special reception beforehand. Therefore after the initial 3 names drawn a further 25 names will be drawn from the virtual hat and invited with their chosen guest to attend a special private drinks and canapé reception hosted by the YCPS in the churchyard.

So all in all a very unusual event that we hope will not only help raise some funds for the continued repairs to the fabric of the building but also give six lucky people a very unique and memorable dining experience. Then a further fifty will share in the evening’s celebrations. More details on what will be happening on this evening will be published in due course.

So please do donate now, as much as you feel you can. Do also spread the word as well as this is too special, intriguing and a challenging event not to share!

We hope you will partake in this special event and we look forward to helping this small but very important community charity!

Cheers

Hari