Win a luxury wreath handmade by St Leonard's Flowers just in time for Christmas simply by following Weekes on Facebook and adding a comment to the wreath giveaway post.

Read on to hear how a wreath saved Christmas last year for a member of our team... 

A wreath on a front door has long been a traditional symbol of Christmas, and winter festivities but last year it single-handedly held my Christmas together when I unexpectedly lost my father. In an age where we’re being encouraged to share our real lives and talk about our #mentalhealth I’d like to share my short story with you.

Last December, my dad who had been out walking in the woods with us the week before and still ran an osteopathic practice, seeming in relative good health for a man in his seventies had a heart attack with further complications. This resulted in two weeks spent in Intensive Care where along with my close family I visited him every day and my whole world shrunk. I could only focus on his wellbeing and was either in hospital or waiting for their updates during the times it was closed to visitors. For the first time in my life I missed my children’s carol concerts, the school Christmas fair and all of the general build up to the big day. I didn’t send any cards. I couldn’t decorate my house. In the end the children did put up the tree with the help of my husband while I cried in the other room and tried not to spoil the moment for them. Sadly, my dad died the day before Christmas Eve.

But this isn’t a tale of despair. Quite the opposite.

During the time that my days revolved around those hospital visits I received a lot of support from friends and family in the form of messages, cooked dinners brought round and offers to help out. It’s when things go wrong that you have a chance to see what sort of community you have built around yourself. One of my close friends, Lucy suggested a wreath making morning. To be honest I was a bit doubtful to start with. I thought I’d bring everyone down and feel distracted, but Lucy reassured me that a distraction was exactly what my brain needed. A bit of self-nurturing, an hour of mindfulness surrounded by those who cared with no expectations from them would help me to cope with whatever happened next. I have to admit that those few hours at her kitchen table were pure joy, priceless in fact. Lucy put some festive tunes on quietly in the background and made soup, whilst we got muddy digging moss out of her lawn and snipped all her greenery. I actually felt Christmasy for a small moment. I entwined some warm string lights in my wreath and later when I got back from the hospital I hung it on my front door and switched it on.

Every time I left the house or came back during that period I saw my wreath, beautiful in the light and magical in the dark. It reminded me that I wasn’t alone and gave me something joyful to focus on. I was surrounded by love and friendship and it lifted my heart in those moments of grief.

That year I can honestly say that it was the best gift of all. In fact, I left it on the door long after Christmas. ‘It’s a winter wreath,’ I told the children as we sailed into January with it. It’s amazing how many times a day we go in and out of our houses. The front door is always the first thing you see when you return so it’s well worth painting a colour you love, adding seasonal planters and keeping it tidy. You reap the feel good benefits daily.

Inspired by Lou’s story, Weekes Estate Agents have come together with St Leonard’s Flowers to offer a luxury handmade wreath to one lucky local! Simply follow Weekes on Facebook and comment on the wreath giveaway post there for your chance to win.

Our full terms and conditions can be read below...

WIN A CHRISTMAS WREATH TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. The competition is open to all UK residents, 18 years old or over, excluding households of employees of Weekes Estate Agents, their agents or anyone professionally associated with this promotion.

2. No purchase necessary to enter, internet access is required.

3. The competition opens 05/11/2018, 08:00 am and closes 02/12/2018, 11:59 pm

4. Facebook - How to enter:

Win a Christmas wreath made by St Leonard's Flowers, Exeter. For your chance to #WIN just give us a follow on Facebook and comment on our wreath post.

5. One entry per person per day. If it becomes apparent that a participant is using a computer to circumvent this condition by, for example, the use of ‘script’, ‘brute force’ or any other automated means, that person’s entries will be disqualified and any prize award will be void.

6. By participating in the promotion the entrant's licence and grant the promoter an exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable and sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and display such content for any purpose in any media, without compensation, restriction on use, attribution or liability. Participants agree not to assert any moral rights in relation to such use where the moral rights in respect of the content are theirs to assert. Participants also warrant that any person featured has given their express permission.

7. Prize: Christmas Wreath made by St Leonards Flowers, Magdalen Rd, Exeter. The winner must be able to collect their wreath from the shop.

8. The winner will be chosen by a random computerised system from all entries correctly submitted on Facebook and Twitter in accordance with these terms and conditions. The winner will be announced on Monday 3rd December 2018.

9. A password will be provided to the winner and they will need to use this password to claim the prize. Once the prize has been collected using the correct password, we cannot issue another voucher if someone other than the winner has collected it.

10. The prize will need to be collected from St Leonard's Flowers within 7 days of claiming the prize at a mutually convenient time.

12. No responsibility can be accepted for any entries that cannot be made, are incomplete, corrupted, delayed or not received for any reason whatsoever.

13. Prizes are not transferable or exchangeable and cannot be redeemed for cash or any other form of compensation. In the event for any reason the prize winner does not take any element of the prize at the time stipulated by the Promoter, then that element of the prize will be forfeited by the winner and neither cash nor any other form of compensation will be supplied in lieu of that element of the prize, unless otherwise agreed.

14. The winner may be required to take part in publicity resulting from these prize draws.

15. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

16. You are providing your information to Weekes Estate Agents and not to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

17. The Promoter’s decisions regarding all promotional matters will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into. By entering the promotion, all entrants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the rules and consent to the transfer of their personal data to the Data Controller for the purposes of the administration of this promotion and any other purposes to which the entrant has consented. All entry instructions form part of the rules.

Promoter and Data Controller:

Weekes Estate Agents, 65 Magdalen Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4TA

(No entries to this address)