A FESTIVE winter wonderland at a historic house, featuring vintage carousels and offering opportunities for local food and drink businesses, raised thousands of pounds to grant the wishes of children living with life-threatening illnesses.

The Gosford House Winter Wonderland – the first of its kind in East Lothian – welcomed thousands of visitors over the course of a week last year to the grounds of Gosford Estate, spreading festive magic while supporting local business and collecting money for a children’s charity.

When You Wish Upon A Star, a Scottish charity granting special wishes to children between the ages of four and 16, was approached to partner the Christmas event.

The festive wonderland showcased a marketplace of Scottish brands, food and drink trucks, vintage fairground rides and carousels, Christmas workshops, and afternoon teas at historic Gosford House.

Other activities, such as marshmallow toasting and pony rides, were also on offer.

The event gave the charity an opportunity to raise awareness of its work, while supporting the lost children’s area with a team of wish volunteers.

Event organisers donated £1 from each ticket sold for the Christmas Tree Post Box Maze and visits to the donkeys, raising £3,547.75 to help grant magical wishes put on hold due to the pandemic.

Judith King, the charity’s Scotland regional fundraiser, said: “The past couple of years have been a very hard and challenging time, where all sectors have been hit hard, including the events and hospitality industry.

“We were honoured to be part of such a wonderful event in the stunning grounds of Gosford Estate.

“Everyone involved should be incredibly proud of the event that they delivered in the current climate and the festive magic that it created for all who attended.”

Judith thanked organiser Rogue Village, Gosford House, suppliers, charity volunteers and visitors for “their wonderful support to our work”.

She added that, as a small non-government-funded charity, donations, charity partnerships and fundraising opportunities are crucial to support families.

Judith said: “With their incredible support, and everyone who bought a ticket to come along, everyone has played their part in helping us take one step closer to granting wishes for our inspirational children.

“The power of a wish can provide time away, giving children and their families something to look forward to through times of uncertainty and often financial as well as emotional strain.

“Wishes allow the family to put their child’s illness on hold as they have fun and create precious magical memories. For this gift to our children and their families, I can’t thank everyone enough.”

Peter Maniam, co-director of Rogue Village, said: “Christmas is so important to children and formative in building memories, so we were delighted to be able to partner with When You Wish, whose very remit is creating memories for children.

“We’re grateful to attendees who helped us to raise funds and awareness for this fantastic charity.”

A spokesperson for Gosford House said: “We were thrilled to be able to give When You Wish a platform to raise awareness of their mission.

“It seemed particularly important in the current climate, when so many wishes of local children and families have had to be put on hold.

“We thank all our attendees for being part of the magic with us and for their generosity in supporting the charity deliver wishes to children and their families.”