Events and News
We host fun, social fundraising events throughout the year that are accessible to the general public. Events are organised by a team of volunteers, The Friends of Marrick Priory. You can read our most recent newsletter here:
Future Events
7pm Friday 21st March 2025
The Colin Bailey Band – Reeth Memorial Hall
The Friends of Marrick Priory present an evening of all time favourites at Reeth Memorial Hall. Pie and peas. Raffle. Bring a bottle. Tickets £12 from Reeth Post Office or on the door or ring 01748 886763. For questions relating to this event please contact Cathy Trewby at cathytrewby@hotmail.co.uk
Not to be missed!
7pm Friday 11th April 2025
Quiz Night Fundraiser – the Buck Hotel Reeth
£5 per person – Bar and Raffle – great prizes! An excellent evening fundraising for Marrick Priory with quiz master Simon Eastwood. Tickets sold on the door. Crisps and nuts included on each table. For questions relating to this event please contact Sandy Carter at office@marrickpriory.co.uk
Friday 30th May 2025
Tour of Marrick Priory
Sandy Carter, the Development Officer at Marrick Priory will be offering a Priory tour and refreshments to walkers booked on the Swaledale Festival walk. This is a Swaledale Festival event and the walk must be booked through them at www.swalefest.org
7:30pm Tuesday 17th June 2025
Presentation to Thoralby WI
Marrick Priory will be at Thoralby WI to give a presentation on ‘Walking in the Nuns Footsteps – Past, Present and Future of Marrick Priory’.
If your group would like to book a talk, please contact Sandy on 01748 884434 or office@marrickpriory.co.uk . We only ask for a donation towards our Bursary Fund as the fee.
Previous Events
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.
