The 23^rd April (St George’s Day) is Shakespeare Day, traditionally the birthday of William Shakespeare.  He was baptised in Stratford-upon-Avon three days later.

William Shakespeare wrote a great many plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Merchant of Venice.   Today, most young people will still study one or more work of Shakespeare in schools.

The 23^rd April is a good opportunity to give you an idea of the possible gift memberships you could give someone who loves culture, Shakespeare, plays, the theatre and reading.

The Royal Shakespeare Company perform plays by Shakespeare and also his contemporaries, whilst also commissioning a wide range of work from contemporary writers.  Its purpose is to make sure that Shakespeare is for everyone across the world.  It nurtures future talent, trains theatre makers, and reaches over half a million people every year through learning programmes.  It also creates projects for communities which have not previously engaged with its work.  It has a number of ways you can support its work, including giving a membership.  You can find out about visiting its Stratford upon Avon venue here.

How about a Shakespeare related experience?
There's a Guided Tour of Shakespeare’s Globe and
Afternoon Tea with a Theatrical Twist for Two
£112.00 from BuyaGift
Our exclusive code AHW2023 will give you a further 15% off!**

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is in Stratford-upon-Avon.  It cares for the world’s greatest Shakespeare heritage sites there, and also promotes the understanding and enjoyment of Shakespeare’s works, life and times.  You can visit William Shakespeare’s childhood home in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it all began, and visit Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the family home of Shakespeare’s wife-to-be, where Shakespeare would have visited her during the early times of their relationship.  And you can walk in Shakespeare’s footsteps at Shakespeare’s New Place, the site that was William Shakespeare's family home for 19 years. You can Become a Friend of the Trust to help support its work and enjoy exclusive benefits.

Shakespeare’s Globe is a world famous performing arts venue.  It’s also an education centre and cultural attraction and it sits on the bank of the River Thames.  Its programme of work seeks to harness “the power of performance, cultivates intellectual curiosity and excites learning to make Shakespeare accessible for all.”  It has two theatres, one indoors and one outside, and you can take a virtual tour of the Globe here.  The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse opened back in 2014 and it has plays, concerts, events and education workshops.

Back in 1623, a book with 36 of Shakespeare’s plays was finished.  It was compiled by two of his acting colleagues, and printed over the river from the Globe.  It’s the 400^th anniversary of this book – which was first known as the First Folio – and Shakespeare’s Globe is a custodian of one of the copies that has survived, thanks to a private owner.  The book is displayed in the main foyer.

Tickets for Two to Shakespeare's Schoolroom & Guildhall.
Learn about Tudor school life in the fifteenth-century building
£25.00 from BuyaGift
Our exclusive code AHW2023 will give you a further 15% off!**

Give a gift membership to Shakespeare’s Globe Members can enjoy priority booking, a Digital Member’ Room and exclusive member discounts, and the knowledge that their membership is supporting the Globe in all its work.

You can also give someone a gift experience related to Shakespeare, such as a visit to Shakespeare’s Globe and Shakespeare’s School Room. 

**The code AHW2023 is valid site wide until 31 December 2023, and it does include special offers and 2 for 1s ((some products are excluded) 

Into the Blue is known for its gift experiences but they also have a number of gift subcriptions!  

Gift Subscriptions at Into the Blue

They have a number of mouth-watering gift ideas.  There's a number focusing on food and drink - Gin, rum, sweets, chocolate brownies, cocktails, wine, coffee and spices.  There's also a VIP eating in London membership, too, and a 12 month Gourmet Society Membership and a 12 month Taste card. 

How about a Three Month Cocktail Subscription for cocktail lovers?
£75.00

They've got gift boxes as well, including one Artisan gift box from Sussex,  a luxury ice cream making kit, and a chocolate truffle making kit.

There are gift subscriptions and gift boxes for people with sweet teeth!

There's also a couple of ones for creative types such as knitting and art and a flower bouquet subscription.  Prices start at £20.  

There are flight simulator expriences
in many parts of the UK
starting at £39.00 

However, there's lots more to choose from with experiences ranging from days out, flight simulators, water sports, driving, and there's lots of gourmet treats. 

 
There are Crochet Workshops in Harrow, London
and lots of creative experiences to choose from 
around the country, from £15.99

Plus if you're looking for anyone who loves creative experiences, you could have a look at their photography experiences, or "Learn to be a" section, music and DJ, dance, blacksmith, jewellery making, beekeeping and singing! 

Meet the Meerkats for Two in Oxfordshire

Outdoor experiences include animal experiences e.g.  walking with sheep, donkeys or alpacas, horse riding, falconry, bee keeping, and there are a couple of activities for dog lovers too. 

Don't miss out!  Fly off to Into the Blue's website here.

If you want to give a cheese lover a gift membership or a cheese gift box, you could take a look at Pong Cheese. 

I love the name – they have some very pongy cheeses as well, including cheese gift ideas such as the Stinking Bishop and the Ultimate Pong Box.

The Ultimate Pong Box has Pong Cheese's strongest, smelliest and most oozy creations, designed to create the ‘Ultimate Pong'!  All for £36.00

They have the most amazing range of cheese gifts, for a start, and you can choose cheese gift boxes by country, milk (e.g. organic, pasteurised) and categories e.g. Welsh cheese, smoked cheese, hard cheese, vegetarian cheese, organic cheese, fondue sets and raclette, cheese hampers and more.  There’s even Wallace and Gromit cheese!

And there’s a cheese club: you can treat yourself to regular deliveries of incredible cheeses delivered right to your door!

Give a Pong Gift Subscription to the cheese lover in your life!

Each box is chosen to give you a variety of seasonal flavour combinations, and typically you’ll get 4 cheeses of about 50g to 200g each. You can choose 3, 6 or 12 months of these special selections. 

This would be a very different sort of food subscription, perfect for cheese lovers, and of course you could always give them a cheese gift box instead of a subscription!

Special Easter offer

View Pong Cheese's Easter range here
and use the code EASTER23 to get 10% off the Easter range!

Pong Cheese have a special offer for Easter - you can enjoy 10% their Easter range with the code EASTER23 and this code is valid to 9th May 2023!  (Only one use of this code per customer and you can't use it in conjunction with other codes.).  View the Easter range here.

Visit Pong Cheese here

There’s amazing beaver news from the National Trust!   And it’s a great example of how membership supports conservation.

At the Holnicote Estate in Somerset, the Eurasian beavers Yogi and Grills were released in the enclosure back in January 2020.  The aim was to improve flood management and also support the health of rivers and streams.  And these beavers are really busy – restoring biodiversity loss, showing the flow of water AND managing the effects of climate change!

They've also been busy producing their first kit in 2021 and twins in the spring of 2022.  The three kits – Rashford, Russo and Toone – were named after England football stars, with the help of the public!

And now, the National Trust has given us all the chance to join an interactive 360 degree video tour of the beaver enclosure they now have! 

You can watch the beavers as they beaver away and go about their daily lives and it’s also a great opportunity to find out how the beavers are changing the landscape there. 

You can explore the lodge, dams and pools that these eco-engineers have created, and watch footage of the beavers and their kits!

The National Trust is going to add more footage to the tour in the future – it’s a very exciting project!

Whilst the beavers are beavering away, the Holnicote team are beavering away as well.  They are looking to see how the beavers are changing the environment around them.   They are creating dams and deep pools of water which in turn has created homes for wildlife such as amphibians, bats, otters, kingfisher, dipper and waterfowl.

Image © National Trust/Nick Upton

Go beavers!  Do have a look at the beaver cam – it really is exciting, but I also found it very peaceful and restful simply watching the beautiful scenes of nature!   And if you don’t see them the first time, take another look another time of day – you never know what you’ll spot!

More dam news from those Beavers!

The National Trust has a guide on beavers and you can find out lots more about there and what the Trust is doing to beaver away for beavers.

Memberships supports the conservation work the National Trust is doing

• Members help the National Trust protect over 780 miles of coastline;
• Members help the Trust to protect and promote the outdoors in its care so that everyone can connect to nature, and members inspired the Trust to launch its well-known “50 things to do before you’re 11 and three quarters” campaign to get children outdoors.
• Members help the Trust look after woodlands, both old ones and new ones
• And members have helped support conservation efforts such as the beaver release in Somerset

So what do members get?

There are lots of benefits, including free access to over 500 places in the Trust’s care.  There’s free parking at most National Trust car parks for members, and you get the National Trust Handbook, which is packed full of useful information about the places you can visit.  You also get the National Trust Magazine three times a year – it’s full of inspiration, interviews and news, and there’s access to the Trust’s online Members’ Area, with lots of behind the scenes features and first-look previews!  Find out more and give a gift membership today!