Most excellent customer service

A talented Cotswold employee has scooped Silver at the prestigious South West Tourism Awards for Outstanding Customer Service.

Twenty-two-year-old Francesca Brennan, Assistant Catering Manager from Farncombe Estate in Broadway wowed the judges with her outstanding contribution to excellence.

Having only worked at the Estate – which offers a wide range of leisure courses and study breaks - for just over a year, Francesca was recognised for going the extra mile for staff and customers.  This included cross-country adventures to find Halal suppliers at the last minute, boosting morale with Christmas-themed snow days and one-to-one training for each of her 19 staff.

Richard Howdle, Operations Manager at Farncombe Estate, said: “We are especially proud of Frankie, who plays a leading role in our catering team.

“She works closely with customers, dealing with their individual needs – and she does it with an infectious smile.

“We are delighted to win such a prestigious award for customer service, especially as these awards cover the whole of the South West, the UK’s prime region for tourism.”

There were 67 different awards distributed to the region’s top achievers last night (6 February) at the event held at the Rivera Conference Centre, Torquay.

The winners were greeted by a star-studded line up, hosted by TV presenter Teresa Driscoll, and presented with their awards by journalist and broadcaster Simon Calder, Senior Travel Editor of the Independent.

“I am overjoyed to have received such an award, it really makes the hard work we do worthwhile,” said award-winning Francesca Brennan.

“It was a wonderful evening and such a great opportunity to be recognised by my industry peers, we’ll be working hard to achieve bigger and better things this year!”

Farncombe Estate has won a number of awards in the past 12 months, including Cotswold Leisure Break of the Year 2011 judged by an independent panel from London and Home Counties Today and a silver Green Tourism Award.

Ukulele Maestro Bows Out Of Teaching

Steven Sproat, probably the best-known ukulele exponent in the UK has decided it is time to close the doors of his workshops to take time out to concentrate on his songwriting and other projects.

Following his recent live appearance on Aled Jones’ Good Morning Sunday show on BBC Radio 2, singer/songwriter Steven Sproat acknowledges he has played a major part in the renaissance of the ukulele by passing on his techniques and tips to thousands of fellow uke players.

"I've been in such great demand for my workshops that it has left me with very little time to write songs and be creative with my music and I feel the time is right to take a break from teaching.  Today's ukulele scene is now fully established really.  I must have taught thousands of people over the years to play.  It's their time to flourish and develop their skills and individual style of playing to keep the flags flying for the ukulele.  I'm so very grateful for the opportunities I've had to teach those who have kindly come along to my uke workshops or on a one to one basis. I've had a lot of fun and learned a lot about myself on that journey and I can channel those experiences into my songwriting."

            2012 is the time for all uke fans to catch one of Steven’s final workshops.  Steven will be hosting around 12 workshops this year, with the last one in October, before he takes time out to focus on songwriting and other projects.   Please check his website www.stevensproat.com or his agent’s website: www.itwl.biz for details of when and where his concluding workshops will be.

Visit www.farncombeestate.co.uk to book your place on Steven's Workshop or call us on 0333 456 8580.

Dan Evans runs through his coaching styles and techniques...

Dan Evans experienced singing coach and tutor talks us through his styles and techniques for the Voice Workshops: Everyone Can Sing run at Farncombe Estate.

In his own words:

"These gentle metaphors help to explain, in an informal way, my coaching style and the coaching techniques I use on my music workshops, especially my Everyone Can Sing voice workshop.
 
They may seem simple and fun but they are profound and work extremely well.

Tightrope walking singing and making music can be difficult, like walking a tightrope
by creating a safe, non-critical environment however, the tightrope is now only a few inches from the floor
singing and making music is still difficult but there is now little risk with failure and students feel more free to try and then improve

Cliff flying it's not my role as tutor to drag students to the top of the cliff, show them how steep it is, push them off and then shout at them for flying badly
I invite students to the top of the cliff to enjoy the view and if they want to have a little fly, then I'll be there to take them under my wing, if they need it

The door
'tutors open the door but you must enter by yourself' (Chinese proverb) "

To book on one of Dan's courses please visit www.farncombeestate.co.uk - Singing Breaks in the Cotswolds

January Sale at Farncombe Estate

You won’t often find me saying this, but we’ve decided to run a January Sale!

We are running four superb courses this weekend and we have a few places left on each one.  If you book a residential place on any one of these courses by 4pm on Thursday 19^th January, we will give you a generous £50 off your booking.

Here are the details.  All the courses are full-board, including Saturday afternoon tea, and run from the evening of Friday 20^th to Sunday 22^nd January.  You will leave after a delicious Sunday lunch.

• Introduction to Digital Photography – for students new to the subject.  Bring your own digital camera or borrow one from us!  With Derek Forss.
• Everyone can Sing – a Voice Workshop.  An ever-popular course run by Dan Evans.  Find your voice and project it with confidence – no formal musical knowledge required.
• The Magic of Vienna (Part One)  A glimpse into the musical history of one of the most astonishing cities in the world, with Julian Williamson.
• Fires of Faith: The European Reformation. Sean Lang takes us back to the 16th century to consider how the history of Europe was changed forever in a bloody battle for power.

We rarely run offers like this, as we prefer to give discounts – and encourage early booking – through our Early Bird programme.   This way we ensure that more of our courses run with a reliable number of people.

So do make the most of our lesser-spotted Sale to learn a new skill, or explore a new topic, in 2012.   Call me on 0333 456 8580 and quote JAN12.

We're going craft crazy at Farncombe Estate in 2012

We have a great range of Craft Courses at Farncombe Estate for 2012, some Day Schools and Some Weekend Courses. Here is a sneek peek at what we have on offer:

Chinese Brush Painting - 13 April 2012
Willow Structures for the Garden - 10 April 2012
Scrappy Zappy Do! - 20 Apil 2012
Blocks Galore for Quilts and More - 22 July 2012
Picture it in Collage and Stitch - 26 Oct 2012

Farncombe Estate - Christmas Gift Vouchers

Christmas – inspiration in a simple, white envelope

Some people are devilishly hard to buy for at Christmas. You want to surprise them with a gift that is thoughtful, imaginative, even life-enhancing – so why do you find yourself considering a set of socks featuring the days of the week?

A Farncombe Estate gift voucher is one way around the perennial present problem. We’ve made it really easy for you to spend as little or as much as you want on a leisure course or study break for a loved one. Any amount is possible: even a £5 voucher makes a nice little stocking filler, or a gift from a child. If you want to be more extravagant, a dedicated Course Voucher will cover all the costs of a Farncombe weekend, including expert tuition, four-star accommodation and delicious food.

So when you’ve run out of ideas, let us send you a white envelope. It will contain all the gift inspiration you need.

Call us on 0333 456 8580 to buy your gift voucher.

How to Look at Art - New Date

Due to popular demand we have added a new date for Lynne Gibson's, How to Look at Art Course here at Farncombe Estate.

Discover how to develop your visual and critical skills by using a strategy for looking at art. This is a simple and flexible approach to analysing and interpreting any piece of art work. The strategy will easily become second nature, giving you the confidence to dispense with the guide books, unplug the headphones and become an active, rather than a passive, viewer!


We will put this strategy into practice by looking at a wide range of art works from across the history of Western art. You will begin to recognize styles and conventions, materials and techniques, and place them within a historical context. Most importantly, you will look with insight and hone your critical skills.

This day school has the simple aim of helping you to achieve a deeper understanding and greater enjoyment of art.
 
Book early to avoid disappointment by calling Mandy on 0333 456 8580.