Sign up for Santas on the Run!

Why not start the seasonal celebrations by joining hundreds of other people of all ages dressed as Father Christmas for some festive family fun, raising money for a good claus?

Last year saw over 350 Santas running through Crawley Town Centre and raising £15,000 for Chestnut Tree House, the children’s hospice for Sussex.  Will you take the challenge this year and take part in the hospice’s annual Santas on the Run event?

The sponsored Fun Run takes place on Sunday 18 November at 10am, starting and finishing in the Memorial Gardens in Crawley, with a choice of a one or two mile route. You don’t even have to train for the run – you can walk, jog or sprint!

Registration costs £12 per adult, £6 for children aged 6 to16 years old, and just £3 for children under 6.  Upon registration, all runners over 16 will receive a Santa suit, and under 16s will receive a Santa hat which of course can be kept afterwards! And all of our special Santas will receive a Santas on the Run medal and refreshments at the end.

Register online today at www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk or call The Events Team on 01903 706354 and help your local children’s hospice this Christmas.

Brighton & Hove Foodie winners receive trophies

The winners of Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards 2012, chosen by the city’s public, last night [October 1] received their trophies from Latest food writer Andrew Kay and Juice FM DJ Andrea Fox at an awards presentation hosted in the beautiful Dome Room at the Pub du Vin and sponsored by mylivevision.

More than 120 finalists and guests gathered to hear the public verdict on best restaurant, best food pub, best café and best food shop before going on to enjoy the now traditional fabulous foodie showcase, sampling mouth watering treats provided by finalists and aptly demonstrating why the city has a reputation for making the ordinary taste extraordinary when it comes to food.

Award for best restaurant went to Brighton’s original vegetarian eaterie, Food for Friends in Prince Albert Street, followed by Terre a Terre in East Street, with the Chilli Pickle, now firmly established in the MyHotel overlooking Jubilee Square, taking third place.  

The Ginger Pig in Hove Street took Best Food Pub 2012, just holding off fierce competition from The Basketmakers in Gloucester Road who came in second but only by one vote,  narrowly beating The Foragers in Stirling Place in Hove into third place.

Café culture clearly works in the North Laine which dominated this award with another vegetarian outlet, Iydea in Kensington Gardens, winning first place; Moksha Caffe in York Place taking second; and Mange Tout, in Trafalgar Street, coming in third.

The Best Food Shop trophy was once again carried off by the much-loved Infinity Foods, also vegetarian, in Gardner Street, this year celebrating its third successive victory, with The Brighton Sausage Company in Gloucester Road taking second position and third place going to ice cream maestros Boho Gelato in Pool Valley.

“This year’s awards competition was even better than last year, fiercely fought and yet there was a fantastic atmosphere with a lot of camaraderie between the city’s favourite food places at the awards presentation.” said Paula Seager, MD of Natural PR, who runs the awards.

“The competition once again shows what a superb and unique range of independent restaurants, food pubs, cafés and food shops we have in the city and that there is huge support for them here, as the public came out in force to vote for their favourites again.”

“We want to thank everyone who took part, our sponsors mylivevision, all the food outlets who joined the competition and the public who voted so enthusiastically – and we hope that they will all support us again when we launch the Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards 2013 at the city’s Spring Harvest Food and Drink Festival next April.”

Companies interested in sponsorship of next year’s awards can contact Sandra Murphy at sandra@naturalpr.biz.  For a full list of finalists and fantastic pictures of the fun had by all at the awards party go to www.brightonfoodawards.com.