The Feversham Arms Hotel and Verbena Spa

It's a perk of my job as a feature writer for Britain magazine that I get to visit and stay in some of the loveliest places in the North of England. I tend to cover Yorkshire, where I was born and now live, and Northumberland where I previously lived and worked as a feature writer on the Evening Chronicle.

So, a couple of weeks ago, on the back of a feature I have just written on Yorkshire for Britain magazine, I was invited to do a press review of the Feversham Arms Hotel and Verbena Spa in Helmsley http://www.fevershamarmshotel.com/. This beautiful hotel is picking up awards from all over the place and our stay there proved that it really deserves these accolades. The 'Fev' is situated in the heart of Helmsley, a town well worth spending time pottering round. The decor inside is very much country chic with comfy sofas, plump cushions and plenty of reading matter to get stuck into round log fires. Its hidden gem, only revealed once inside the hotel, is the pool and terrace at its heart. Its clear water looked so inviting that even on a cold November day I was tempted to take a dip (I actually took advantage of a luxury facial in the spa instead) and can only imagine what this place looks like in the summer. Even in winter it looked so pretty lit up by tiny fairy lights entwined round trees on the patio.

You can see the review on Britain magazine's website http://www.britain-magazine.com/articles/feversham-arms-review

Indigo

I have just done some work for Indigo, a great shop in Malton, selling gifts and lovely things for the home with a French/Scandinavian country feel.

Alex Curtis who runs Indigo approached me about doing some publicity for her. She was planning her annual Christmas Shopping Open Day that raises money for charity (Marie Curie Cancer Care in Scarborough and Zoe's Place in Middlesbrough).

I know Indigo as a customer as it's one of my favourite shops in Malton and I always enjoy seeing what new things Alex has got in. She is a busy woman with two other successful shops in Helmsley and Yarm. Having chatted to her about the open day it transpired that the shops' open days had raised an impressive £1700 in the last five years for the charities so that was the peg for the story.

I wrote up the news release and we took a picture of Alex with some Christmas decorations from the shop. I sent the release to The Gazette and Herald, The Malton Mercury, The Yorkshire Post, The Press, The Teesside Gazette, the Darlingon and Stockton Times, the Middlesbrough Herald and Post. It appeared across the board with several papers using the photo too. Alex was thrilled with the publicity and apparently the day was a success.

We are now looking at publicising her re-launched website for customers who live further afield than her shops. Have a look at it as she has some gorgeous things for the home and is very reasonably priced. http://www.indigo11.co.uk/ And if you'd like to see how it appeared in one of the papers, here it is in the Teesside Gazette. Here's the link, http://ts15.gazettelive.co.uk/2009/10/tis-the-season-for-giving.html