Gift experience company Into the Blue have lots of experiences to choose from!   

The company began by selling flying experiences out of Biggin Hill in Kent, and they've been making memories since 1996.   Founder and Managing Director Jim Maitland went to Biggin Hill as a child with his father, who opened up Biggin Hill as a civilian airfield back in 1958.  Jim spent many happy hours there and joined his father to help him run the Biggin Hill Air Fair.  Realising lots of people who were at the shows would love to have a go themselves, he worked with his contacts and so Into the Blue was born!   Needless to say, they have lots of flying experiences - including flight simulators - and also adventure, creative, water, sports, food and drink, breaks, days out and at home experiences.  So there's lots to choose from!

What's more, they've got a special offer for you!

Enjoy 15% off*
The code below is valid on experiences
up to £250.00. Some products are excluded.

ITB15FORME

How about a Flight Simulator Experience - perhaps a Vulcan Bomber?
Take a look at the Flight Simulator Experiences here.

How about a Champagne & Sparkling wine experience?  Choose between a 
Champagne & Wine Tasting Evening or a Champagne & Fizz with Lunch from £49.00

There are Chocolate Making Experiences too! 
Perfect for anyone who loves chocolate!

There are Garden Workshops and Floristry Courses,
including The Raymond Blanc Gardening School: The Edible Garden
where you can view the beautiful gardens and orchards at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Oxfordshire.

The Animal Experiences include a Sheepdog Experience in Yorkshire - 
just imagine a day with border collies, as you learn how to handle and train them
and shepherd a small flock of sheep! 

There are lots of Gourmet Gifts and Subscriptions as well, 
just the thing for lovers of gin, rum, wine, spices, brownies, sweets,
charcuterie, and cocktails.  


They've got lots of Afternoon Tea options, too,
including Afternoon Tea for Two at Fishmore Hall in Shropshire.
View the Afternoon Tea products here and tuck in!

Subscription and membership gifts include one for knitters.
See the subscription and membership gifts here.

Use ITB15FORME for 15%off* experiences up to £250.00

(*Some products are excluded from this offer)

Head over to Into the Blue 

There's nothing like a chat with someone you care about and enjoy being with over a nice cup of tea!

And if you're looking to treat someone to something special, you could plan a day out in London with tea at Harrods!

BuyaGift have a number of different options, including a Cream Tea, a Traditional Afternoon Tea and a Champagn Tea at different venues within Harrods...

So for example you could enjoy a Cream Tea for Two at The Georgian, Harrods, or an Afternoon Tea for Two at The Tiffany Blue Box Cafe at Harrods or a Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two at The Georgian, Harrods, and they start at £60.00.

 
There's a Cream Tea for Two at The Georgian, Harrods for £60.00 
It includes delicious fruit and plain scones with clotted cream and
of course Harrods Jam!  And there's a pot of tea from a great selection,
created by their in-house Tea Tailor! 

Or how about a Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two at The Georgian, Harrods for £160.00?

• Tuck into a traditional afternoon tea for two
• A delicious selection of dainty sandwiches, patisseries, scones with clotted cream and jam and a wide variety of teas
• A glass of Champagne each
• As you tuck in, you'll be entertained with live piano music - lovely! 

 
Or there's an Afternoon Tea for Two at The Tiffany Blue Box Cafe at Harrods
for £129.99

This is the only Tiffany cafe outside of New York's Fifth Avenue, and it's decorated with Tiffany's signature blue and the hand-painted Tiffany motifs, so it's something a bit different!  This Afternoon Tea at The Tiffany Blue Box Cafe includes a collection of dainty finger sandwiches, patisserie and freshly baked scones and a selection of handpicked loose-leaf tea!  You can also upgrade your gift to a Champagne Afternoon Tea, too, for £155.00

To make this all the more mouth-watering, BuyaGift have very kindly given us a 10% discount code - use AHW2025BAG and you can get 10% off! 

Some products are excluded, but nonetheless, there's plenty of choice.  If you can't get to London and Harrods for a tea for two, BuyaGift has a LOT of other options - you can see their Afternoon Tea Experiences here.  Do book early! 

Enjoy!

How about a plant subscription for someone who loves plants? 

Now, Flying Flowers are based in Jersey, in the Channel Islands (the island famous for Gerald Durrell, the conservationist) and the beautiful, gentle Jersey milking cow), and they've been delivering flowers for over 40 years.   

So how did it start? Back in 1981, some holidaymakers in Jersey stopped sending postcards home and they began to send carnations instead.  They were a great and colourful way to send love to family and friends back home and to let them know that they were being thought of! 

And as well as flowers, they send plants - and they've got a choice of three plant subscriptions -  3, 6 or 12 months - and they choose one of their favourite seasonal house plants each month.  They are each delivered in their own container.  And you choose the start date!

This beautiful plant will bring lovely colourful cheer to your home!
It's January's plant.  

This is a lovely gift idea to give someone a surprise for however many months you choose to have your subscription run - just imagine their faces when they open the door!  And plants arrive in a co-ordinating container, so the recipient doesn't have to go rummaging for pots and so on - they can just decide where to put them and sit back and enjoy them!

This was December's plant

Take a look at the Plant Subscriptions from Flying Flowers
from £68.00

Keep the love flowing month after month!

I love the Wildlife Trusts.  They are a grassroots movement of people from all sorts of backgrounds and they are on a mission:  to restore a third of the UK’s land and seas for nature by 2030.

Each Wildlife Trust is an independent charity.  Those involved (in whatever way) want to make a difference to wildlife, to nature, to our climate. 

There are now 46 Trusts throughout the UK, from Alderney Wildlife Trust in the Channel Islands to the Scottish Wildlife Trust, from South and West Wales to Suffolk, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to Northumberland.  So wherever you are, or wherever the nature lover in your life is, there should be a Wildlife Trust in their area you can tap into and get involved with.

The Wildlife Trusts together have over 900,000 members.  There are 600 Trustees, over 32,500 volunteers and 2,500 staff.  That’s a lot of people who care about nature and who want to make a positive difference.  If we all work together and we are committed to making life better for nature and wildlife – and for people, too – we can achieve much.

Members are helping their Trust to look after wildlife and the natural places in their area, and they receive a welcome back, regular magazines and lots of information. It’s the sort of thing where you can get as involved as you want; if you are really manic with life, you can at least know that your membership is helping your Trust continue with its vital work.   

Membership benefits

Because each Trust is an independent charity, the memberships will vary on cost (most are about £3 a month) but generally they include a welcome pack of goodies, regular magazines full of news and features, access to beautiful nature reserves, talks, walks and events – these are a great way to meet fellow wildlife lovers who care about the natural world – and chances to campaign for wildlife.

Many Wildlife Trusts have half price membership offers (or similar) in January 2025, (most to new members only)!

So this could be a great opportunity to treat yourself or a loved one to a reduced price membership, be it half price or anything else for that matter, and to support wildlife at the same time!

For example:

Devon Wildlife Trust

Durham Wildlife Trust

Surrey Wildlife Trust

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust

Radnorshire Wildlife Trust

Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Shropshire Wildlife Trust

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Kent Wildlife Trust

Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Manx Wildlife Trust

Ulster Wildlife Trust

Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trust

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust

North Wales Wildlife Trust

Cheshire Wildlife Trust

Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Dorset Wildlife Trust

This is not an exhaustive list so click on this link here to find your local Wildlife Trust if it isn't listed above! 

Give a gift membership to a Wildlife Trust here

Take Action and Support your Local Wildlife Trust

Take a look at your local Wildlife Trust, you can find yours here – and sign up.  It’s a great way to show your support for nature and to help Wildlife Trusts reach the 30x30 target - that's 30% of land and sea protected by 2030. 

The Wildlife Trusts are aiming to put nature in recovery, making more space for it and connecting habitats on a large scale so that wildlife can pass safely through to new territories.  The Trusts want to restore nature so that ecosystems can function again - the UK natural world is very much depleted now.   

The Trusts are also hoping to inspire us all to act for nature and rewild our neighbourhoods, working with our communities.  I am a member of a couple of Wildlife Trusts and love to receive news of how I can get involved and make a difference - and also to see success stories.  Together we can all drive change and actually help nature help us - nature is vital for our wellbeing. 

So give a gift membership to a Wildlife Trust and you'll be giving a gift that helps nature, wildlife and people and is a win-win for nature lovers all round!