Life behind the SQUARES with Sarah Anderson

Each person attending will require a ticket and the experience includes a savoury bun or sweet treat elf-endorsed sugary breakfast plate (or lunch box) at our eatery. Included in the ticket price is a chocolate themed (of course) reusable gift, a NICE list certificate, activity sheet with colouring, and of course your private photo opportunity with the big man himself in our fully decked out, cosy Christmas grotto. You can take as many of your own photos as you want. 

During your session the shop will also be closed to the general public, but open to you, so if you wish to use your hour to stock up on last minute gifts or to get those bits and bobs to add to Christmas Eve boxes, we will have the tills on and be ready to serve. 

This would be an amazing opportunity to relight the magic in older children who are on the cusp of believing - we had overwhelmingly positive feedback last year, with everyone who attended telling us he encompassed everything you'd imagine the real Santa to do so... real beard included! He has the voice, the glasses, even the twinkle of fairy lights in his eyes (this might be a reflection of the decor in the shop, but still 👀🤣) 

We decided to start hosting gluten free events at the shop earlier this year, after noticing an increase in customers asking for our gluten free goodies and meals at general service times. 

What are Sarah's Chocolate Kitchen gluten free nights?

They are essentially evenings set aside to serve goods that have no gluten in them, so anybody attending knows that everything on offer is suitable for them to eat without having to check the menu top to bottom, back to front and inside out, and without worrying about cross contamination. 

On top of that, really, there's a part of me that just thinks it's... rude?

I can understand taking your own little picnic with you on a day out to the zoo, where the main income for said venue is the animals, not the food. But to bring your own food into an establishment that sells food, and relies entirely on that food being sold to keep afloat, cover costs, pay wages and pay bills, results in substantial loss of income. 

So, in short, we don't accept food being brought onto the premises because of the risks associated with doing so. We are a very flexible place to eat, the majority of our foods can be made to suit, for specific dietary requirements and optional food choices. 

Have you ever been to a thermal spa? 

We recently visited two different ones in Austria - not particularly because that's what we wanted to do, but because the weather forced us into it, being so severe it left little room for anything else. 

Anyway, I digress. 

In hindsight I'm quite pleased we ended up with no other options because the experiences were just amazing. Alfie absolutely loved being there, spending three hours in each one. We all really benefitted from it, and came out of them feeling so, so good... body, mind and soul. Being completely immersed in and surrounded by water, it was a given that our phones and technology was kept well away, so we really had the chance to switch off and be in the moment, enjoying it together. 

What is a thermal spa?

Think outside of the British box with this one, where a "thermal spa" might describe some hot or cold treatments you receive as part of a spa experience, or a soak in an artificially heated chlorine-filled pool. A traditional thermal spa is a spring water pool, naturally heated to above 20°C 

Where does the heat come from?

It actually comes from the Earth itself. Now, I'm no scientist so I'm not going to go into great detail here and speak way out of my scope, but the springs are heated by activity within the Earth... no heaters in sight. 

The benefits of a thermal spa

Because of the higher temperature of the water, a thermal spa pool can hold more vitamins and minerals in the water in comparison to its cold counterparts - soaking in the water for such a prolonged period of time really gives your body the chance to soak up all that goodness. I don't think I've ever had skin so soft as it was when getting out of the pools there. 

The heat of the water can also significantly help relax the muscles in the body - reducing stiffness and relieving those aches and pains. 

Social aspect 

One of the things that became really apparent to us when we were there was the way the pools are used for socialisation. There were people there on date nights, a group of a few female friends, mixed groups, groups of men ... some swimming, some relaxing, some just breathing it all in and taking a moment. Conversations being had by everyone, connecting. Nobody sat on their phones. It was so refreshing to see this way of living. That "getting together" means doing something to benefit your mental and physical health, and not drowning in alcohol, spending loads of money to regret it the day after. 

It's a real shame there aren't more of these places accessible in this country though I imagine, like everything else, they'd end up becoming a massive profiteering money-making scheme ran by people with already deep pockets 🤦‍♀️ 

Sat talking to Michael now about how I wish I had millions in the bank to create one, free of charge for people to attend, just to relish in those benefits of being in one. 

The six weeks summer holiday break can be so daunting for families, especially with an ever-increasing number of bills to pay that are being hiked higher than ever. 

It can be difficult to find days out that fall within budget, or days out at all, with so many seeing closure over the last few years post-covid, Brexit, and bills.