Although this site is about gift memberships, one of the things about many gift memberships that's great is that they give the lucky recipient many days out.

So if you're looking for a great day out for someone, how about giving them an experience with The View from the Shard?

It's the tallest building in London - and in Western Europe!  With its incredible architecture and amazing 360 degree across London, you can enjoy the sights both in Level 69’s indoor viewing gallery and on Level 72’s open-air platform - it has views for up to 40 miles! 

So how about giving someone special the opportunity to visit The View from the Shard and to experience this view for themselves - and then to enjoy a three course meal afterwards at Marco Pierre White's London Steakhouse Co?!

Well, Virgin Experience Days have just that opportunity combined in one - and what's more, they've got a special offer on it!

The Special Offer...

For just £111 instead of £192, you can enjoy  a Visit to The View from The Shard and Three Course Meal at Marco Pierre White's London Steakhouse Co for Two!  This saves you 42%.   Some things are excluded - such as side orders - and tea & coffee cost extra. And a discretionary service charge of 12.5% will be added to your bill.  But nonetheless, this is quite an offer!

The restaurant is about 15-20 minutes away from The View to the Shard, so you need to allow travel time, and you also need to pre-book your ticket to the Shard in advance.  The good news about pre-booking is that it will reduce your time queuing.

Find out more about this amazing offer from Virgin Experience Days.

 Take a look at other experiences at The View from the Shard
from Virgin Experience Days.

If you know of someone who'd love to visit Chester Zoo (having watched Secret Life of the Zoo on TV, for instance), but who doesn't live in the area of Chester, you could give them the opportunity to both visit Chester Zoo AND have a night away!

Activity Superstore has an "Entrance to Chester Zoo for Two with Overnight Stay" experience for £239.00. 

It gives you the opportunity to visit Chester Zoo - there are 21,000 animals there representing 500 species.  The Zoo has 1.9 million visitors every year and is one of the UK's top tourist attractions.

The beautiful city of Chester includes landmrks such as Chester Castle, the grand Roman ampitheatre and the thousand year old cathedral - perfect for history lovers!  And you can also have fun with retail therapy at Chester Rows' shopping experience.

A night's sleep will give you the chance to enjoy the second day of your mini-break. 

Waddle off to Activity Superstore to find out more!

The 7th to 13th August is Afternoon Tea Week, and a great chance to treat a friend or family member to an Afternoon Tea out.  

There are a huge number of Afternoon Tea experiences, which you can enjoy with or without a glass of bubbly or gin, depending on what you want to do and how much you want to spend.  Chatting over a cup of something hot whilst indulging in lovely delicious and mouth-watering goodies is a great way to spend time with a loved one - and you don't have to worry about all the preparation, cooking and washing up!!

Gift experience company BuyaGift has some great offers on and lots of wonderful opportunities to have an Afternoon Tea Experience, so although these aren't memberships, I thought I'd give you an idea of what some of them are. 

You can enjoy a 15% discount with BuyaGift across their site - including special offers and 2 for 1s - until 31 December 2023 with the code AHW2023 (although some products are exempt from this offer.)

There's a Luxury Afternoon Tea for Two Gift Voucher UK-Wide
It was £65 and is now £59.99
There are 65 locations to choose from, 
and champagne is available at some of them. 
Use the code AHW2023 to get 15% off!**


There's an offer on Afternoon Tea at Patisserie Valerie for Two.
It was £38.95 and is now available for £25.00
There are 27 locations available.  
Tuck into savoury sandwiches, sweet treats, 
fluffy scones with jam and cream - and of course, tea!
Use the code AHW2023 to get 15% off!**

There's also on offer on Afternoon Tea with a Bottle of Fizz for Two at Veeno
It was £82, and is now £75.
There are 8 locations available.
Tuck into a gorgeous Italian afternoon tea, with a selection of 
Foccacia, meats and cheese, chocolate cake, lemon cake
and scones with mascarpone and strawberry jam!
All washed down with a bottle of fizz to share....
Use the code AHW2023 to get 15% off!**

There's a great offer on Prosecco Cream Tea for Two at Harrods
It was £58.00 and it's now £49.00
Drink a refreshing glass of prosecco each and
indulge in a fluffy, freshly baked plain and fruit scones!
And there's clotted cream and Harrods' own jam too!
Please note:  this experience is excluded from our discount code

Or, how about a Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two at The Harrods Tea Rooms?
It was £164.00, and is now £120.00.
There are wonderful delights:  finger sandwiches, pastries, scones with clotted cream
and jam.  And the wide range of teas have been carefully selected by an in-house expert.
Enjoy live piano music under the skylight, too!
Please note:  this experience is excluded from our discount code



There's also an Afternoon Tea Experience Box 
for £34.99.   It isn't on offer but there are 465 venues to choose from!
Find out more here...
Use the code AHW2023 to get 15% off!**

See other Afternoon Tea options available from BuyaGift

The code AHW2023 is site wide, including special offers and 2 for 1s,
although some products are excluded from it. 

It’s National Allotments Week from 7^th to 13^th August 2023.

The National Allotments Society (NAS), which organises the week, is a charity which works to support the needs of all allotment holders in the UK.   The membership scheme it runs is vital because it raises funds to make sure that allotment gardening has a future.

The NAS has used this period over the last 20 years to get people involved in the world of allotments! 

The week is also a great opportunity to grow the seeds and spread the words about the benefits of allotment gardening for everyone – individual people, communities and the planet!

Some benefits of allotment gardening for people include:

• Mental health – there’s a report on the website about how allotment gardening can help mental health
• The chance to connect with nature
• The opportunity to meet people with a like-minded interest
• The benefits of sharing – your knowledge, left over produce and more!
• The ability to grow your own produce
• It’s a good healthy activity outside in the fresh air!
• A sense of achievement

There's a short film on the joys of allotment gardening called Plotting for the Future, and you can watch it here.

In 2023, the theme of National Allotments Week is Soil Health.   Good soil health improves the yield when you’re growing your goodies, but actually is also contributes to the environment and biodiversity.   So this coming week, the NAS wants to educate us all about the benefits of caring for our soil – and the animals living in it.

What does the NAS do?

Well, it does a number of things:

• it campaigns against government legislation which threatens allotments
• it works with local authorities to make sure that they reach their statutory obligations
• it educates plot holders with growing advice
• it supports schools into growing allotments
• it’s the voice of allotmenteers, as they are called, around the UK

Needless to say, to do all this they need support – and this is where their membership programme comes in.

Give a National Allotment Society Gift Card here.
Image © National Allotment Society

Why not give a NAS Gift Membership Card?

Membership fees are listed here and there is also an NAS Gift Membership Card which gives lucky recipients a number of benefits you can find here – click on these links to gift a membership.  You’ll see when you go through to these links that you can also gift a magazine subscription, if you prefer.

More information about allotments

The  NAS website has lots of helpful information on allotments including hens on allotments, wildlife on allotments and bee-keeping and there’s also information on how to get an allotment in the first place.

There’s also tips and advice on growing including monthly jobs, water used on allotments, designing an allotment for children, and how to plan an allotment.

Visit the National Allotment Society’s website here.