Every year, Peak District towns and villages see thousands of people flock to their streets to witness and celebrate the beautiful art of well dressing. Well dressing displays traditionally use natural materials, including seeds, leaves, wool, fir cones and flower petals. It is a tradition that has been celebrated for over 700 years in Derbyshire, and will hopefully continue to live on for many years to come!
Well dressings are a labour of love, taking hundreds of man hours to complete, in a very short time frame. Dependent on the weather, once erected outdoors, their lifespan is very short too as rain, wind and baking sun all do their worst to the clay the well dressing designs are based on. Many villages use their well dressings to fundraise for good causes, taking advantage of the thousands of visitors to the Peak District. The Over Haddon well dressing is no exception and typically raises cash for three charities each year, splitting the proceeds of the takings three ways equally between the nominated charities.
This year, two charities close to our hearts are the lucky beneficiaries of the well dressings that will be produced for 2024 in the village of Over Haddon. Arts Derbyshire is a charity that our MD Debbie has had involvement with for over 18 years. She is also a Trustee of SHE UK, a charity based in Mansfield in Nottinghamshire that supports survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
To show our support to these two charities, our Managing Director, Debbie, designer Evie and our Digital Marketing Apprentice, Ed will be getting their hands dirty by helping to create the well dressing boards and bring them to life!
Throughout this week, the wells will be ‘dressed’ in open garages in the village. The well dressing teams will be on hand to talk to passers by and our collection buckets will encourage people to spare a few coins to the cause as they watch the process of the wells being made. There is even a QR code for contactless payments – very 21st Century! And if you are reading this and would like to contribute, then you can visit this page to make a donation:
https://pay.sumup.io/b2c/QW8EVAW1?utm_campaign=pdf&utm_medium=print&utm_source=qr
Keep an eye on our socials for some cheeky behind-the-scenes footage of the production process, as well as to keep up to date with all the other exciting stuff we get involved with here at Destination Digital!
This year’s well dressing event promises to be a brilliant one, with the village of Over Haddon and surrounding areas due to be teeming with people wanting to take part with the well dressing celebrations! The main board displays will be located at the village’s historic water pump on Wellgate Lane, and it overlooks the beautiful Lathkill Dale.
The junior display board will be located at the Over Haddon Village Hall on School Lane.
The start of the well dressing creation process is the 15th June, and the blessing of the well will take place on Saturday the 22nd June, and gives thanks to the wells for the clean water it provides to the village. Tea and cake will be provided in the village hall all weekend to further fundraise for the charities, and so if you are looking for a great day out, head to Youlgrave to take a look. After the blessing, it’ll be up for 8 further days so move quick if you want to see it before it is gone!
Arts Derbyshire have been a long-time client of ours, in fact we’ve been around and involved with them since their inception in 2006! Debbie and Ed are the editorial and digital marketing team for Arts Derbyshire and take care of everything digital, this includes their newsletters, social media and more!
So, what do Arts Derbyshire do and why do they need funds?
Arts Derbyshire are a Derbyshire based charity who aim to enrich the lives of people through the arts, via creative health, social prescribing and many other projects. They provide strategic direction for the arts in Derbyshire, to promote and enable collaborative working for arts development and to encourage people to take part in the arts.
As a charity, Arts Derbyshire are always looking for fundraising opportunities so that they can continue with the brilliant work they do and empower Derbyshire’s residents. Every donation is a brushstroke in masterpiece of a brighter future for Derbyshire!
S.H.E. UK are another amazing charity that Debbie is on the Board of Trustees for, and once again are very close to our hearts due to the amazing work they carry out every single day. They offer a wide range of support services for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, rape and sexual violence.
They are on a mission to improve the lives of victims of childhood sexual abuse and sexual violence, and their vision is that survivors are met with compassion and openness, in a world where childhood sexual abuse is exposed, tackled and not met nor associated with feelings of shame.
Now of course, none of the work they do would be possible without funding, which is why it is so important that the charity is fundraised for to allow them to continue doing this work. SO, if you are not able to come along to Over Haddon during the well dressing and support these charities through the sale of postcards, cakes and other refreshments, then if you can spare a few pounds, the links below lead to a donations page for each of the charities!
https://pay.sumup.io/b2c/QW8EVAW1?utm_campaign=pdf&utm_medium=print&utm_source=qr
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