Incentive Weekends in Sussex
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Below, we have provided sample itineraries and event suggestions that we have created for other clients, which may help to inspire you and give you a flavour of how our Groups and Events team can assist you, to ensure you have a FANTASTIC event.
Please bear in mind that these are just examples that we have experience of - whatever destination you choose for your next event, our Groups and Events team will be delighted to tailor a conference, meeting, exhibition or team building break to your exact requirements to any destination worldwide.
Ashdown Park
Set in the heart of the beautiful Ashdown Forest lies the unique Ashdown Park Hotel & Country Club.
Situated within 30 minutes of Gatwick Airport and Junction 6 of the M25, this beautiful 4 Red Star country house mansion is set within 186 acres of parkland and manicured lawns, offering 106 luxurious bedrooms, 2 AA Rosette cuisine, Spa and superb leisure facilities, including its own Par 3 18-hole golf course.
We would propose a programme similar to that outlined on the Itinerary tab for a creative incentive week-end at this lovely venue, but can provide many other options for an incentive weekend tailor-made to your exact requirements.
Example Itinerary
Day One
Your group will be checked in privately in one of the lovely period Drawing rooms, to allow for speed registration.
You will then be warmly welcomed with Traditional English Tea in the hotel grounds or in a private function room. Then, enjoy an early evening hot air balloon flight from the hotel grounds.
This evening, unwind with a one hour open bar with dry snacks on the hotel terrace, affording tranquil views out over the carp filled lake, or in one of the elegant private rooms if weather inclement.
A BBQ or hog roast dinner will be served by the Summerhouse, again allowing for privacy and a relaxing environment for an informal buffet dinner in one of the hotel's elegant private rooms. Half a bottle of house wine per person will be included, and a jazz band will entertain you.
Overnight accommodation in luxurious bedrooms.
Day Two
Start your day with a Full English breakfast in the hotel's Anderida Restaurant.
Delegates
Morning meeting inclusive of flipcharts, pads, pens and cordials, and water in the room. Coffee and cookies will be served mid-morning, and a buffet or working lunch will also be provided.
Partners
Relax with some optional treatments in the hotel's Revitalize Spa, or an excursion to one of the local attractions which include Wakehurst Place, Sheffield Park Gardens or Tunbridge Wells, for example.
Afternoon Team Building Activities
These can be as varied as a team survival event entitled ‘I’m a Corporate Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ (see below for details), to walking a very charismatic and furry llama through the hotel grounds, tying it up like a cowboy would his horse outside the Summer House and enjoying afternoon tea served there. Or participating in any of the normal country pursuits such as clay-pigeon shooting, archery, go-karting, quad-biking or blindfold Landrover driving. All can be arranged in the privacy of the hotel’s extensive grounds.
‘I’m a Corporate Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!’ Event - The challenge can start at the Company Board room or at Ashdown Park Hotel, where your group is split into 2 survival camps and kitted up in survival outfits.
The aim is to get from the Concrete Jungle to the Amazon Jungle competing against the other camp using various cryptic clues, maps and GPS to get to the site before the Amazon Ration Store closes.
The first clue is to locate your transport (if required), then to collect Amazon Currency en route at various rendezvous points. This currency helps purchase survival items from the Rations Store such as – loo roll, shelter, food, water, fire-lighters. There is a Rations Store Price List where you must debate and decide on what the group needs to survive.
There are communication hurdles along the way as members of the camps individually lose the ability to see, hear, walk and talk. This will test your team’s entrepreneurial spirit to the max!
The team’s exploits can all be recorded on video and played back to the group!
Tonight, take part in a themed Black Tie Gala Dinner in the hotel's unique Richard Towneley Suite, which includes its own bar and reception room as well as the stunning stained glass converted Chapel, the Harry Clarke suite, complete with organ and organ gallery. Originally built by the Holy Order of Notre Dame Convent in 1924, this building was sensitively converted 16 years ago when substantial investment was made to return the house to its original grandeur.
This amazing room lends itself to stage a Phantom of the Opera themed evening.
Tables will be dressed in black and gold, with optional masks for the guests. Pre-dinner drinks at the one hour open bar will be provided with canapés in the bar area, with a jazz band to entertain. The atmosphere will be electric as the lights are dimmed after everyone is seated – then come the opening strains of the dramatic and heartrending music of the famous Phantom of the Opera theme! One of the original lead singers from this popular show will then appear as the lights go up to enthral the guests. All members of the 8 piece band and singers are West End performers or musicians of the highest order.
The first fifteen minute set will feature the well known songs from this much loved show. After the main course, another fifteen minute set of Classic West End show songs including Cats and Les Miserables.
After dessert, a third fifteen minute set of lighter show songs such as Mamma Mia will kick off the dancing set in the nave of this unusual venue, surrounded by its stunning stain glass windows. The party will continue into the night with the band and singers playing contemporary music and requests.
Following cheese and liqueurs, a top-class magician, used to entertaining many top celebrities, will circulate around the tables specifically to engage those guests who are not dancers.
When the evening draws to an end at 1am, rest your heads in the hotel's luxurious bedrooms.
Overnight accommodation in one of the hotel’s luxurious bedrooms.
Day Three
After your Full English breakfasts in the hotel's Anderida Restaurant, take a morning helicopter flight from the hotel's helipad, giving wonderful views over the hotel estate.
For those who prefer to keep their feed firmly on the ground, take time to enjoy any of the hotel's superb facilities - a swim or gym session in the Country Club, or perhaps a mountain bike ride around the grounds. A more sedate option would be a game of croquet, tennis or a round of golf on the 18 hole par 3 course.
Tuck into a delicious buffet lunch together before you bid your farewells.
