Events and News
We host fun, social fundraising events throughout the year that are accessible to the general public. Some events are organised by a team of volunteers, The Friends of Marrick Priory. Other events are organised by Sandy, the Marrick Priory Development Officer. All events are listed below. You can read The Friends of Marrick Priory’s most recent newsletter here:
Future Events
In the Nuns’ Footsteps – Marrick Priory
2pm Tuesday 7th October 2025
Sandy, our Development Officer, will be speaking at Carthorpe Ladies Group about the past, present and future of the Priory. If you would like to arrange a talk for your group, please get in touch on 01748 884434 or office@marrickpriory.co.uk
Quiz and Curry Evening – Reeth Memorial Hall
Friday 17th October 2025
Christmas at Marrick – Marrick Priory
Sunday 7th December 2025
Soup and Puds – Marrick Priory
Various dates in December 2025
Our fabulous soup and puds return this December – all proceeds going towards our Bursary Fund. Come along and join us on any of the following days in December: Thursday 11th, Friday 12th, Monday 15th, Wednesday 17th.
We are asking for a donation of £13.50 per person – Booking is essential so please email Sandy at office@marrickpriory.co.uk or telephone 01748 884434
Spring 2026 – Talks Programme
Our Development Officer will be giving talks about the Past, Present and Future of Marrick Priory to several groups this spring – Wensleydale Ladies on 20th January and Leyburn Ladies Luncheon on 16th April. If you would like Sandy to visit your group to give her talk about the Priory to your members, please get in touch on 01748 884434 or by email office@marrickpriory.co.uk
Swaledale Festival – Marrick Priory
25th May 2026
We will be taking part in the Swaledale Festival in May and will be welcoming walkers at the Priory on Monday 25th May for a private tour and refreshments. If you would like to join this walk, please contact Swaledale Festival directly.
Previous Events
Songs with Scones at Marrick Priory
September 2025
The Friends of Marrick Priory had an afternoon of musical entertainment from Treble Clef followed by tea, cakes and scones.
Summer Lunches and Cream Teas at Marrick Priory
August 2025
We held a series of summer lunches and cream teas throughout August which helped raise a fantastic amount of £2130.92 for our bursary fund . Thanks to everyone who gave so generously to help support our work at Marrick Priory.
Cake Stall in Reeth
July 2025
Our cake stall in Reeth raised over £500, which will go towards supporting the work of Marrick Priory.
Presentation to Thoralby WI
June 2025
Marrick Priory hosted Thoralby WI to give a presentation on ‘Walking in the Nuns Footsteps – Past, Present and Future of Marrick Priory’.
Tour of Marrick Priory
May 2025
It was lovely to welcome the Swaledale Festival Walking Group this morning. They walked from Reeth and enjoyed coffee and cakes and a tour of Marrick Priory before heading back. £115 was collected in donations which will go to our bursary fund. www.swalefest.org
Helen Guy presents Memoirs of a Swaledale Woman
May 2025
Guests enjoyed a delicious tea at Reeth Memorial Hall with a talk about life on a remote hill farm in the early 1900s. This event was in aid of the Marrick Priory bursary fund.
Quiz Night Fundraiser
April 2025
The Colin Bailey Band
March 2025
Rishi Sunak Visits Marrick Priory
February 2025
During a visit to Marrick Priory, Mr Sunak praised ambitious plans for new accommodation, changing rooms and a common room. Jim Gleave, head of the centre, set out the vision for the upgrade, explaining how the renovations would enable the charity to better serve schools and community groups for years to come.
Mr Sunak also met the trustees from The Friends of Marrick Priory to discuss the events planned to raise funds for the development, estimated to cost £1m.
Groups can enjoy a range of activities during their stays at the centre, including archery, abseiling, rock climbing and kayaking.
The Richmond and Northallerton MP joined a group during their final day at the outdoor centre, for some team-building games, before being shown around the residential centre.
He said: “It’s been inspiring to witness these young people learning new skills, building confidence, and fostering teamwork in such an exceptional setting.”
He added: “These development plans ensure that Marrick Priory can continue to provide invaluable opportunities for children to step outside their everyday environments, connect with nature, and develop qualities that will benefit them throughout their lives.”
Mr Gleave, who has been at the centre since 2001, said: “It was fantastic to welcome Rishi to Marrick Priory. He got stuck in straight away with the children and thoroughly enjoyed working with them to complete each challenge. We then gave Mr Sunak a tour of the Priory buildings, he learnt about the plans to develop our accommodation facility as well as the initial ideas of creating a new caving activity.”
Vinny Turner, Headteacher of St Teresa’s Catholic School, Newcastle, said: “We were delighted to meet Rishi Sunak during our trip. The children were thrilled to share this experience with him. It’s a visit they will remember for a long time.”
The above is a summary of articles on Richmondshire Today and Rishi Sunak’s website.
Christmas at Marrick with Marske Choir
December 2024
Quiz and Curry Night
October 2024
Our annual quiz and curry night fundraiser at Reeth Memorial Hall.
Strawberry Tea at Marrick Priory
July 2024
Strawberry Tea at the Priory with the Reeth Brass Band. Delicious tea in a unique setting. Exciting children’s activities and raffle. Free admission with donations welcome. A fun afternoon for all the family.
Talk – Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
June 2024
Mid-summer brought a fascinating talk on a Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Steve Hall explained how he had been drawn to the arduous route, walked by pilgrims for hundreds of years. While walking Steve took a variety of photographs, charting not only the route and the varying terrain but also the other pilgrims. The resulting conversations explained the reasons for their determination to complete the route. The reasons were different in every case but equally as important to each individual, often with deeply emotional causes.
The photographs formed the basis of the slides to accompany the talk and helped to give life to the characters themselves, as well as images of the type of land walked, portraying the challenging journey.
The presentation was full of the echoes of people encountered, the various levels of accommodation, and the personal recollections along with a lively sprinkling of humour giving a wonderfully individual slant on the journey, and the eventual arrival in Santiago.
The talk certainly provided much food for thought, and the personal touches gave a unique insight into every aspect of the Pilgrimage.
Thank you to those who attended, we raised £220.
Blues Night
May 2024
The last Friday of May was not a Blue Moon, but in Reeth it was certainly a Blues Night!
The event began with everyone enjoying plates of pies and mushy peas, then the entertainment started. Drystone Blues Collective covered a wide variety of styles and eras with their music, so there was certainly something for everyone.
The evening passed and ended with some interesting ‘shapes’ being ‘thrown’ on the dance floor! It really was an event to be remembered.
The event raised £355.
Christmas at Marrick
December 2023
Unfortunately, Christmas at Marrick had to be cancelled due to snow.
Christmas Soup and Puds
December 2023
We welcomed Wensleydale Rotary, Leyburn Arts, Reeth Ramblers, Leyburn Cyclists, Northdale Nursery PLC, Coverdale Walkers, Leyburn U3A, Bedale U3A, Hudson House, Bellerby Study Group and Community Centre at The Old School House and other friends to our Christmas soups and puds days. One of our instructors, Luke, especially enjoyed welcoming Archie, one of the Ramblers’ dogs!
Thank you everyone for your donations to our bursary fund – we raised a total of £3512. A huge thank you to all who supported the events and all the staff who worked so hard to make them so successful. Our bursary fund helps young people visit us from families who are experiencing financial difficulties so they too can benefit from a residential stay at Marrick Priory.
Staff Christmas Party
December 2023
Marrick Priory staff enjoyed their staff party at Rafael’o Italian in Richmond on Friday evening. A great night of eating, drinking and friendship was had by all. Merry Christmas everyone!
Quiz and Curry Evening
October 2023
We raised £794. Derek Pollard has travelled to act as Quiz Master for us since 2016. It has been a fantastic fund raiser and always enjoyed. He sadly feels unable to return this year because of ill health. I rang to thank him and he said he would be happy to provide us with questions!
French Evening
August 2023
We had a French themed evening at Reeth Memorial Hall with Music provided by Colin Bailey and a Cassoulet supper. It was well attended and raised £965.
Cake Stall
July 2023
Cake Stall at Reeth Green.
Strawberry Tea
July 2023
Strawberry Tea at Marrick Priory. We raised £323.50 in donations and a raffle.
Coffee Morning
July 2023
Coffee Morning in the Town Hall, Richmond.
Christmas at Marrick
December 2022
Marske Choir at Marrick Priory for Christmas
Quiz and Curry Evening
October 2022
A Quiz and Curry Evening at Reeth Memorial Hall.
Italian Food Evening
August 2022
Italian Food Evening in Reeth Memorial Hall with Marske Choir.
Cake Stall
July 2022
Cake stall at Reeth Market.
Strawberry Tea at Marrick Priory
July 2022
Strawberry Tea at Marrick Priory with Reeth Brass Band and activities for children.
Coffee Morning
June 2022
Coffee morning in Richmond Town Hall
Past Highlights
Selected Highlights
A selection of photos from our previous events
Older Events
Christmas at Marrick
December 2019
We were entertained by Marske Choir before a delicious supper in the Refectory. The event raised £2,663, which included very generous donations from Barclays (£1,000) and the Company of Mercers, Grocers and Haberdashers of Richmond (£750).
Coffee Morning
December 2019
a Coffee Morning with Father Christmas in Richmond Town Hall along with a tombola and cakes. This was a joint event with Richmond Round Table. We raised £511 (£138 of which was kindly donated by Richmond Round Table).
Soup and Dessert Lunches
December 2019
Throughout December we held several Soup and Dessert Lunches at Marrick Priory. Nearly 200 people visited us over five days and enjoyed our tasty offerings of fantastic soups and fabulous puddings! Along with the purchase of our homemade Christmas cakes, we raised £3170 from our lunches. This will go towards our bursary fund helping young people to visit us from families experiencing financial difficulty. Thanks to everyone for your support.
Quiz and Curry Evening
October 2019
Quiz and Curry Evening at Reeth Memorial Hall. The evening included both meat and vegetarian curries with various accompaniments and a raffle.
Strawberry Tea at Marrick Priory
July 2019
Strawberry Tea open day at Marrick Priory. A chance for attendees to try out some of our activities, food and drink. A brass band provided the music.
Spring Lunches
May 2019
One hundred people enjoyed our scrumptious Spring lunches here at the Priory. The lunches consisted of an assortment of meats, fish and fresh salads (with a veg option too) and our fantastic homemade puddings. We raised £1375, including gift aid, towards our bursary fund which supports young people to visit the Priory from families experiencing financial difficulties. Thanks to everyone who joined us – your support is greatly appreciated.
Illustrated Photography Talk
March 2019
An illustrated talk by local photographer Ian Short about photography in Swaledale and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It was held at the Swaledale Outdoor Centre Richmond and included pie and pea supper.
Opening the Outdoor Classroom
December 2018
Today we were joined by Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley for the opening of our new Outdoor Classroom. Though not dressed in her usual ceremonial attire Bishop Helen did come equipped with her purple wellies. As well as opening the Outdoor Classroom she was also able to have her first try at archery. This was followed by a soup and pudding lunch back in the main Priory building. The occasion was also attended by the Reeth Walking Group, Friends of Marrick Priory and the Leyburn Arts and Community Centre Walking Group.
The Outdoor Classroom is situated away from the main buildings down by the river, next to the High Ropes Course and Archery Range. It is a fully enclosed structure that can accommodate around 20 people. The Outdoor Classroom is available for use by both residential groups and day groups.
Christmas at Marrick
December 2018
We had carols, a tasty buffet supper and most of all fabulous singing from the Marske Choir who entertained us. They sing all year but we’re told not many of them attend rehearsals in the Spring, they are too busy looking after the sheep during lambing! Barclays Bank joint funded our proceeds, for which we were most grateful. We felt very lucky. We shall be able to continue supporting our Bursary Fund and buy those new waterproofs which are needed for our visitors.
Dinner with Baroness Brenda Hale DBE, QC, PC, FBA
November 2018
Our guest speaker was Baroness Hale of Richmond, DBE, QC, PC, FBA, Chairman of the Supreme Court who found time in her busy schedule to come to speak to us. Our speaker was brilliant in telling us about her life and childhood in Richmond; dinner, including game casserole, was delicious. Funds raised and a fascinating evening.
