The English Tea Party offered a Right Royal wedding Tea Party package and we SOLD OUT!! It was wnderful to see so many host their own tea parties to celebrate this wonderful occassion and using beautiful British crockery to do so!
On the Cakestand this month...
This month we are really excited to have been able to grab a cuppa (in a vintage teacup of course)! and an interview with the founders behind SolidariTea Arabia, Kellie Whitehead and Theresa Tsui, aka Mrs Pot and Mrs T...
How did you
come up with the concept of SolidariTea?
K: SolidariTEA Arabia is the result of a very late night conversation
between us both. The seed and input comes from Theresa and Theresa only (Theresa:
*blush* *blush* *blush* not true!) – as she learned about the UK concept
via her daughter having worked on something at school. As my mamavents business
works in bringing women together holistically online and off, the ‘events’ part
of the logistics, the contacts etc was already in place – Dubai is already as
multicultural as they come, and it seemed a perfect fit – I’ll let Theresa tell
you all about the concept itself…
T: My 15 year old daughter was
involved in the organisation of her school SolidariTea which took place at the
beginning of 2011. Pupils from all year
groups came together over iced tea and cupcakes – there are very few occasions
at school when *ALL* the pupils are able to congregate socially for no other
reason than getting to know one another.
The event was a success and she thought that the SolidariTea concept
would be a novel way of bringing a community together but was concerned that
such a simple yet powerful way to raise awareness would just pass by the
UAE/Middle East where meeting over tea is an integral part of the culture of
this region even suggesting I host one at home and open the invitation to
all. At the beginning it was
overwhelming; I didn’t know where to start and *that* fateful ‘Late
Night Conversation’ took place. Kellie
thought it was something that could be done regularly to keep the momentum and
with the support of Mamavents; SolidariTea Arabia was born. 4 weeks later, we launched SolidariTea Arabia
and 45 women came together.
How does it
work and how can people get involved?
K: It’s *really* simple – or I think it is J We will
hold Bi-monthly events at nice venues
for get-togethers over tea, of course, and breakfast/cake etc – we will choose
a local charity each time, and all event proceeds go to the chosen charity,
we’ll offer prizes and goody bags, and every attendee will go home feeling that
the have enjoyed a fabulous morning of social banter, great refreshments, and
all for a good cause, making new friends - learning a little and laughing a lot!
Anyone can attend these ticketed events that we market via our database and
social media – www.facebook.com/solidaritea www.facebook.com/mamavents
and twitter @loveteauae. The real community part is that people can hold their
very own, in as simple, or as extravagant a way as they see fit.
T: As Kellie said – it is really is a very
simple concept. Aside from our
bi-monthly big tea we want to encourage women in the community to host their
own. Using the concept of SolidariTea, a
gathering can be as
small or large as you wish. It can be with a few friends coming together or a
large afternoon high tea with an open invitation to the wider community. Anyone
is welcome to participate or host their own.
Creating awareness is hugely important and there are so many different
ways in which you can help a cause and it does not have to be monetary. Our first community SolidariTea was a
request from the Palestinian Childrens Relief Fund who asked supporters to
donate soft toys for the ‘Teddies for Gaza’ initiative. Fundraising can be as simple passing around a
collection jar, suggesting a donation for attending the tea or as creative as selling
cakes, handmade cards or jewellery. The
beauty of the SolidariTea campaign is that it is NOT affiliated to any
particular cause, country, religion or political organisations.
What do you
hope SolidariTea will achieve?
K: Well, as well as the ‘obvious’ elements of having a nice time and raising
monies for charity, we hope to stay true to the original concept of multi-culture/faith
– mamavents has always had a multi-national fanbase, but we want to work harder
at maintaining this and building up a connection with Emirati women in
particular as many expats express a desire to socialise and get to know local
ladies better. We also really want to give a platform to the causes that might
not get as much exposure as others , and staying true to the UN development
goals wherever possible
T: In the short term I hope that
the community will adopt SolidariTea as a basis of meeting and strengthening
ties between women and the wider community through the medium of tea. The launch was a perfect example of women
from many different cultures/religions/nationalities coming together. Going forward I’d like to see the concept of
SolidariTea growing organically, helping to shape the community and inspire
others to keep the momentum going and persist in creating awareness for
charities which come under the umbrella of the 8 Millennium Development Goals
where possible. Some of the charitable
organisations which seek support fall under this umbrella are *right here* on
our doorstep and need *your* help. As
Kellie said – we are providing these causes a platform to connect to supporters
in the region. Going forward I hope
that SolidariTEA will be a forum which helps grow multi-faith
understanding and co-operation, helping to build better solidarity
in our local community and globally between people.
Is it only
possible to host a SolidariTea event in the UK or is it available elsewhere?
K: There is one happening in Florida as we speak! We *urge* people to
hold them anywhere, for any reason, in any venue with as few or as many
attendees as you wish. We will lend all the support we can – from providing
delicious Numi Organic Tea to goodies and giveaways, to promotion if a public
event and more…
T: Many communities the world
over have enjoyed SolidariTea to date and we can help you to host one of your
own in Dubai, UAE or wherever you happen to be. Getting together over tea is
such an accessible medium – the only ingredients you need is a venue and
people! It can be as simple or as fancy as you like and wherever you like! If you’d like to step up and host your own
we’re on hand to suggest how the event can be organised; from which cause you
might like to help to suggestions on how to create an event; to creative ways of
raising awareness and how to invite the community to your SolidariTea. Where possible we will also come and join in
the fun! K: We have always planned variations on the SolidariTea theme in order to keep the events and the brand itself ‘fresh’ - we plan SolidariTEANS to engage young people, MarTEAni evenings, where the ‘tea’ may be a bit stronger and so on – BeauTEA was always in the plan and came about organically when an associate - ‘Sugaholic’ needed to raise funds to continue their sponsorship of the education of an underprivileged child. They are currently selling their cakes for the cause and we wanted to help too. We are having an ‘intimate’ event on May 16th at an exclusive medispa www.biolitedubai.com where attendees will enjoy makeovers and demonstrations; of course, delicious organic tea and cake, and all proceeds will go to help Anjali. A limited number of places are available at AED 125 per person and must be reserved by emailing info@mamavents.com
T: After the launch of SolidariTea we started to think of different
ways to spread the word whilst keeping in line with the message of
SolidariTea. The beauty (excuse the
pun!) of the word ‘Tea’ is that is so versatile and words can be manipulated to
include it. We had lots of fun coming up
with the various different events.
BeauTea is our first non-tea party style event and we will get to know
celebrity skin guru Dr Mona Mirza and get the low-down on non-invasive surgery
and aesthetic surgery. Pampering and
taking care of our appearance is massive in the Middle East and something which most women have an interest
in! And best of all – we get support
Sugaholic. Cake for a cause who can
resist?!
We at The English Tea Party in Dubai wholly support the work of SolidariTea and think its a fantastic concept...we are looking forward to the next one on June 14th at The Ritz Carlton DIFC....well done ladies! xx
TETP HQ UK...
We are busy planning our Eco-Vintage themed photoshoot using local suppliers and products to showcase how you can recreate a vintage theme to your wedding or event - whilst being eco aware and not blowing the budget....we will keep you posted...or follow us on FB to see how we get on!
In the Press...
Its been a busy old month; however we were very excited to be invited to do an interview with our favourite wedding magazine: Martha Stewart Weddings Middle East...here are some sneaky pics from behind the scenes on location in our fave Vintage store Bambah www.bambah.com !...
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