Friend's Magazine Autumn Winter 2017 | Page 8

Friend’s Update Dear D Friends W hat a mixed bag of weather we have experienced this summer. Being a parent myself, and under the constant strain to occupy the children can be difficult, even more so during periods of wet weather. Although the summer weather was somewhat unpredictable, The Garden still maintained its extensive entertainment programme throughout. We had some wonderful and unusual characters pop in; Prince Amir and Nazreddin were favourites of mine - a cheeky Meerkat riding a camel, of all things! The Forgotten Garden Adventure Golf is new this summer and where possible I like to offer discount for such things. I am pleased to advise that Friends receive a £1 discount per person and in addition there is a loyalty card for the avid golfer amongst us! The Forgotten Garden Adventure Golf with its larger than life features such as hornets, a spider and a worm remind me of the films like Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island! Christmas plans are in motion and we find, as the appetite for Christmas at The Garden increases, we start our preparations earlier. This year Father Page 8 Tracy Cullen Christmas tickets went on sale for Friends in June, with a massive uptake. Tickets were then released to the general public two weeks later, resulting in a number of days being fully booked. I am pleased that the recent changes in the membership scheme have been positively received, and Friends have embraced our need to adapt in order to enable us to continue to support our charitable programmes. We are receiving reports that the Friends online renewal facility is somewhat sporadic and I would therefore kindly ask for your patience whilst we endeavour to improve the system. If you do encounter problems renewing online, please get in touch (01665 511350 option 1) and we can log the problem, but more importantly we can renew your membership over the phone.