Guild Harvest Service & Lunch 2011
Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, will be a very special guest at this year’s Guild Harvest Lunch, which follows the traditional Harvest Service in St Brides Church, Fleet Street.
The Princess Royal (pictured during a visit to the Great Yorkshire Show last year) is a keen supporter of British agriculture, as her honorary membership of The Farmers Club and attendance at farming events through the year testifies. She will be a very welcome Guest of Honour at a lunch intended to celebrate the best of British food and drink.
“Thanks to the generous support of sponsors and suppliers, the event’s caterers will produce a bespoke five-course lunch, with wine included,” notes Guild chairman Adrian Bell.
“First, Guild members and guests will enjoy a drinks reception in the magnificent surroundings of Stationers’ Hall, having walked the short distance from St Brides after the Harvest Service.”
Bookings for individuals and groups are now being taken using the application form that can be downloaded here. For the first time, members can purchase tickets using a debit or credit card via the PayPal secure online system, as well as by cheque.
For security purposes, named tickets will be issued and these must be brought along on the day.
“At just £50 for Guild Members and Friends, £60 for guests who are not members of the Guild, the event represents remarkable value-for-money,” suggests Adrian Bell. “More importantly, I hope it will build on the success and popularity of past events with the added appeal of a new venue and format, as a great celebration of British food and drink.”
Main sponsor Lloyds TSB Agriculture is enthusiastically supported by a number of wine and produce suppliers, including the Waitrose supermarket business of the John Lewis Partnership. FAI Farms and its associate company 5M Publishing will supply mutton raised in Oxfordshire; Partners in Purchasing, a corporate catering procurement business, will source fresh fruit and vegetables; and the Jersey Cattle Society will supply milk, cream, butter and other dairy produce.
The preceding drinks reception sponsored by the UK arm of feed preparation technology firm Richard Keenan will feature sparkling wines from Bluebell Vineyard in Sussex.
Preceding this event, the Harvest Service at St Brides will again feature the full choir thanks to the generous sponsorship of Shepherd Publishing. Starting a little earlier than usual at 10.45am, members consistently rate this as one the best ‘Guild experiences’ of the year.
“It’s a wonderful way to start what I think is going to be a very special day,” says Howard Venters of Shepherd Publishing. “Let’s have the pews filled to capacity so we can all enjoy the service and singing to the full.”
