Show Your Love for Local This Valentine’s

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, there’s still time to show your love for local by shopping within the Surrey Hills, choosing locally-made gifts or booking a Surrey Hills’ experience. With a wide range of both traditional and more unusual treats for yourself or a loved one, look to local this Valentine’s for a more sustainable choice and to truly show you care.

Read on to discover just some of the Surrey Hills Enterprises members offering fantastic options this Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Gifts

Pick the perfect Valentine’s present from a choice of curated gift boxes for Valentine’s Day from Sensiful.  Show your special someone how much you care while also spreading the love to lots of local Surrey businesses who make the gifts in the boxes. How about a Hot Fox Box (£29.50) with an array of chilli-themed gifts?  Or the Surrey Sweetness Box (£33) for your sweet toothed sweetheart? Last orders for free guaranteed Valentine’s delivery is Friday 10th February.

The Valentine’s Rose Expression and Chocolate Gift Set (£50) brings together two Surrey Hills Enterprises members in the perfect partnership. Silent Pool Distillers and Sweet C’s Handcrafted Chocolates have created this heavenly gift set to set hearts racing this Valentine’s. Featuring Silent Pool’s delicate Rose Expression Gin, combined with Sweet C’s handcrafted chocolates made with exquisite Fino De Aroma cocoa, specifically created to enhance individual botanical notes in the gin, including orange, spice and red fruits.

Vegan, cruelty free and plastic free local candle company, Winterfold Candle Company, suggest their Eventide Essential Oil Candle (£24.95) makes for the perfect Valentine’s gift. Reminiscent of sultry summer evenings, this candle pairs the deep, complex scent of bergamot – providing a comforting warmth – with the rich florals of neroli for a beautifully uplifting scent.

Enjoy complimentary Sweet C’s chocolates when you buy sparkling wine from Chilworth Manor Vineyard before Valentine’s Day. Try the Chilworth Manor Brut Rosé (£36.50), a classic method sparkling wine, vibrant pastel pink in colour with youthful purple hues and a delicate mousse,blended from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. The last order date for guaranteed delivery is 9th February but order and collect from the vineyard up to 1pm on 13th February.

Give yourself the gift of self-love this Valentine’s with natural skincare from Puremess and buy a bestseller to receive 23% off another product. The bestselling Rejuvenating Face Cream (£18) is one such product that lifts the spirits with its Neroli, Sweet Orange and Palmarosa essential oils, whilst rehydrating, softening and rejuvenating the skin with its Hyaluronic Acid.

Available in Classic, Orange, Mint, Salted Caramel, Raspberry or Peanut Butter, the 8-inch Brownie Heart (£20) from Delightfully Decadent is the ideal way the share the love with the whole family this Valentine’s. Handcrafted and suitable for 8-10 people, this delicious brownie makes the perfect indulgent gift. Order online or telephone via the website.

Valentine’s Experiences

Barnett Hill Hotel provides the perfect elegant setting for romance this Valentine’s season, with sumptuous Afternoon Tea for Two, sure to impress any amore! Served in the Library, Bar, Oak Room and Drawing Room, expect roaring fires, frosty views accompanied by dainty sandwiches, light-as-air scones and a divine selection of cakes.

The beautiful Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking is hosting a Valentines Sparkling Celebration Ball on Saturday 11th February. Enjoy a sparkling wine reception followed by a delicious three-course meal with wine, then dance the night away to live music provided by the fabulous 15-piece band, Perfidia. Tickets are priced at £68.50 per person.

Book the beer lover in your life a Brewery Tour (£15 per person) with Dorking Brewery for the chance to learn more about their seriously good beer and the processes they employ. With a duration of 45 minutes, this tour takes place every Saturday at 12.30pm and makes the perfect Surrey Hills experience gift for that hard to buy for person.

For those that want to give their loved one something memorable, why not purchase an Experience Day Gift Voucher (from £65) for Joy Farms? Let them choose a date and experience that suits them best from a wide range of activities including green wood spoon carving, basket weaving, woodturning, floristry and more. These beginner-friendly art and craft experiences provide the chance to get outside in the fresh air and learn a new craft or explore a new hobby.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a romantic getaway to Wotton House, escaping into a relaxing and indulgent break with the one you love. The Valentine’s Package includes an overnight stay in a Garden View Room, Dinner, Bed and Breakfast, Petals on the bed, Chocolate Strawberries and a Bottle of Prosecco on Ice in the room. Available on Saturday 11th and Tuesday 14th February from £249 per room.

Discover more sustainable Surrey Hills businesses here: https://surreyhills.org/our-community/find-local-businesses.

Royal Visit to Showcase Surrey Hills Enterprises

In acknowledgment of the outstanding work of local businesses, Surrey Hills Enterprises were delighted to be visited by HRH The Earl of Wessex KG GCVO on November 6th.

The Royal Visit was a wonderful recognition of the growing reputation and development of the Surrey Hills as a hub of innovative, high quality, sustainable, local products and services.

 

During the visit, His Royal Highness had the opportunity to meet many of the outstanding arts, crafts, food and drink producers who have all been awarded the Trade Mark Surrey Hills – an accreditation and Mark of local provenance, quality and sustainability. The Trade Mark is awarded by Surrey Hills Enterprises, a Community Interest Company whose core activities are focused on building a strong local economy and tourism industry through ‘clean growth’, support of rural businesses and environmental sustainability.

The Royal Visit included a showcase of Surrey Hills food, wine, cheese and coffee and His Royal Highness was presented with a hamper full of delicious treats celebrating the variety and quality of local, sustainable produce.

Simon Whalley, Chairman of Surrey Hills Enterprises stated:

“This is a very exciting time in the development of the Surrey Hills Brand and the Royal visit is testimony to the importance of supporting and developing rural businesses as a conduit to developing an even stronger local economy, which in turn can then help support the protected environment of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We are delighted that the recognition received by this Royal Visit will help inspire our local community to support their local businesses and become more aware of the range and quality of local produce.”

Since the launch of the Surrey Hills Trade Mark in 2018, there are now over 100 businesses who demonstrate the best of what Surrey has to offer whilst meeting the required criteria of local providence, sustainability and quality.

A small selection of the outstanding 100+ enterprises participated in the visit including:-

  • Ruth Wheeler – Wood Sculptor & Pyrographer;
  • Rosanna Gethin – leather craft worker;
  • Abinger Stained Glass;
  • Adam Aaronson Glass Studio;
  • Sweet C’s Chocolates;
  • Jack Kerr – Blacksmith;
  • The Surrey Hills Adventure Company;
  • The Salt Box;
  • Trustees of the Wey & Arun Canal;
  • Shere Kitchens;
  • Norbury Blue Cheese;
  • Mandira’s Kitchen;
  • Albury Organic Vineyard;
  • Greyfriars Vineyard;
  • High Clandon Vineyard;
  • Chilworth Manor Vineyard;
  • Denbies Wine Estate;
  • Hill House Farm;
  • Coverwood Farm;
  • Chalk Hills Bakery:
  • Chimney Fire Coffee.

Details of these and all other Trade Marked Members are available at www.surreyhills.org

The Royal Visit was a real celebration of the high quality that reflects the distinct and special nature of the Surrey Hills Brand.

With huge thanks to our partners for all their support