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 worked 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, well dressing designer Evie and our Digital Marketing Apprentice, Ed, will be getting their hands dirty by helping to bring the well dressing design for Over Haddon 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 dotted around in case people care 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 here to make a donation.
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 in the well dressing celebrations! The main board displays will be located at the village’s historic water pump on Wellgate Lane, which 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 15 June, and the blessing of the well will take place on Saturday 22 June, and gives thanks to the wells for the clean water it provides to the village. Tea and homemade cakes 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 Youlgreave to take a look. After the blessing, it’ll be up for 8 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!
So, what do Arts Derbyshire do and why do they need funds?
Arts Derbyshire is a Derbyshire based charity that aims to enrich the lives of people through the arts, whether that’s via creative health, social prescribing or the many other projects on offer. 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 is always looking for fundraising opportunities so that the charity can continue with the brilliant work it does and keep empowering Derbyshire’s residents through the form of arm. Every donation is a brushstroke in the masterpiece of a brighter future for Derbyshire!
S.H.E. UK is another amazing charity that Debbie is on the Board of Trustees for, and once again is a cause very close to our hearts due to the amazing work they do every single day for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, rape and sexual violence.
The charity has a vision to improve the lives of victims of childhood sexual abuse and sexual violence. Their mission is to meet survivors 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 for fundraising to take place so they can continue doing their incredible 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!
Discover the many ways in which you can donate to Arts Derbyshire here.
Donate to SHE UK here.
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