Presents Galore, the three-day festive shopping extravaganza, is proud to announce it raised £65,642 for local charities.
The event, which took place between 29 November – 1 December 2024 at the Rowley Mile Racecourse, welcomed over 5,000 visitors through the doors, all attending in order to shop and enjoy the festivities in the lead up to Christmas.
Greeted by hundreds of stalls from local and independent businesses, the event was a fantastic success, with all proceeds being donated to the three chosen charities, the National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket Charitable Foundation and Cambridge Children’s Hospital.
New for 2024, the event welcomed finalists from the West Suffolk Young Traders Competition who hosted their own dedicated area of the event, and received a huge amount of positive feedback from visitors.
100 per cent of ticket sales were donated directly to the charities, along with 10% of all sales throughout the event and a wonderfully supported raffle that raised £3,580 alone.
Monies raised for the Cambridge Children’s Hospital will go towards the development of a new hospital for the East of England, currently the only region in the UK without a dedicated children’s hospital. It will be the first in the world to integrate mental and physical healthcare, underpinned by world leading research, and will have a life-changing impact on millions of children and young people regionally, nationally and globally.
Commenting on the event, Head of Community Fundraising Donna Lee-Willis, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the committee at Presents Galore for supporting the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital, which will have a life-changing impact on children, young people and their families across the East of England and beyond.
“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a world-leading hospital that will transform healthcare as we know it. To do this we need the support of fundraisers like the presents galore committee who have raised just over £85,000 for us in just 3 years. We are looking forward to working with them in 2025. Thank you so much to the committee and all that attend this wonderful event who have enabled such a significant amount to be raised.”
The National Horseracing Museum will continue its dedication to the horseracing industry. As well as telling the story of horseracing from its earliest origins to the global phenomenon it is today, the museum contains stunning works of art, contemporary sculptures, science and breeding galleries, and some of the world’s most famous racing trophies and unique bronzes and artefacts.
Newmarket Charitable Foundation, who has in recent years opened a new cinema in Newmarket at the Kings Theatre, will focus on further community projects including research into the demands of youths in the area and how they can best cater and provide for this market.
Director of the Charity, Josh Schunmann added: “Presents Galore has become an integral part of our fundraising activities over the past two years and we feel honoured to have been asked to work with them again this year. Funds raised enable us to carry out work within the Newmarket community, including the launch of our first Pop Up Shop which is set to open on the High Street this summer, giving up and coming businesses a chance to trade within the town whilst encouraging further visitors and business development.
“The event itself is such a wonderful part of our festive celebrations bringing together visitors from Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Essex and beyond. If you haven’t been yet, be sure to come along and experience it for yourself this year.”
Having been a part of Newmarket’s festive heritage sine 1987, Presents Galore has raised over £300,000 in the last five years alone since the current committee was created and a restricting of the event took place. An enormous amount made possibly by the wonderful support of shoppers and stallholders alike.
With plans now in place to launch this year’s event, the committee is extremely proud to have been able to raise such a huge amount for all three charities once again, and look forward to working together in the future.
Event organiser, Penny Nicoll said: “We’ve been blown away with the support already shown for this year’s event with over 80 stalls already signed up. We’re always looking for new, innovative exhibitors, and with the launch of our new VIP evening now open to the public this year, 2025 looks ready to be another fantastic event.”
Taking place between 28th – 30th November 2025, early bird tickets will go on sale on 1st August 2025. To find out more please visit www.presentsgalore.org.
