Count down to Christmas

Only a few more days to go! The Cloud Hotel has been really busy with pre-Christmas lunches and dinners and thank goodness the snow has stayed away this year although I do have sympathy for Scotland who have really been suffering with bad weather. The Christmas decorations are really lovely thanks to Mike Dacombe of Inspiration in New Milton, he always does a fabulous job and this year is no exception.

In between running a busy hotel and finding time for my family I have attended some very inspirational and enjoyable events hence the delay in writing this Blog! In November I was invited to attend the 'everywoman of Influence Dinner' at the Landmark Hotel in London. The dinner was to provide the attendees the opportunity to hear what it takes to build a successful business and to create an environment where people will want to work. We listened to three inspiring speakers who had all succeeded in their own fields.  Larry Hirst CBE, until his retirement from IBM in 2010 was chairman of IBM Europe.  Kate Burns Senior Vice President, Sales and Operations, AOL Europe and Christina Vaughan Founder and CEO of Image Source. All three had a different story to tell and I left the event having had fun and with new ideas for my own business. Anyone who knows me will know how much I love these events and how much I learn from listening to successful people.

The following day I was at the Savoy Hotel in London at the Three Butterflies Lunch to raise money for Womankind Worldwide. This charity is an international women's human rights charity working to help women transform their lives in Africa, Asia and Latin America. How humble I felt when I heard some of the stories of the women who have helped these women.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the West Country Embroiderer's at Brockenhurst Village Hall on Saturday afternoon before attending Jen's 60th birthday party at Le Blaireau that evening. Jen is a member of the Wessex Women's Network and has raised thousands of pounds for Naomi House Children's Hospice  over the years by organising fantastic Themed Balls that we all enjoyed. What a fabulous party it was, I could have danced all night but luckily I didn't because my dancing legs are not as fit as they used to be and I had to work the next day as usual.

The annual Christmas dinner in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support was held at The Cloud Hotel on Saturday December 11th and raised £1,700-00. The event was well attended and we all enjoyed the Highcliffe Junior Choir singing Christmas carols at the start of the evening. The Cloud Hotel has raised over £30,000-00 over the past 25 years thanks to the support of the local community.

The Wessex Women's Network Christmas Dinner will be held on Thursday December 15th at the Cloud Hotel. Jason Noble singer/songwriter will be entertaining us with his latest single 'Be Mine This Christmas'. It is available to pre order on line from www.7digital.com I hope to see as many of you as possible at what should be a fun evening and will be the last meeting of the year.

Christmas is a time we give gifts to our family and friends but sometimes as Zig Ziglar said

'You Never Know When a Kind Act Or One Word Of Encouragement Can Change A Life Forever'


I'll leave you with that thought and wish you all a very happy Christmas and a New Year filled with love, happiness, fun and success.

Avril