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Improving the lives of Scottish children – The Real Mary King’s Close supports Cash for Kids as its Charity Partner

The ghostly story of the young girl Annie and her lost doll is just one of the many stories shared at leading Edinburgh visitor attraction The Real Mary King’s Close, and is the main reason why the attraction has chosen to support Cash for Kids in 2020.

In the 1990s, a Japanese psychic visited the attraction and told of feeling the ‘presence’ of a child’s unhappy ghost, whom she pacified with a real toy doll. Since then, visitors to the Close have brought hundreds of gifts for Annie, mainly toys, sweets, letters, children’s jewellery, and money.

Whilst the attraction has temporarily closed as part of the preventative measures against the spread of COVID-19, prior to closing their doors the team at The Real Mary King’s Close added up the donations in Annie’s Room, and presented a cheque for £2,000 to the Cash for Kids Charity this week.

Paul Nixon, General Manager, says

“We’re delighted to be working with Cash for Kids this year, a charity benefitting children in and around Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk. We’ve an abundance of fascinating stories that relate to the very people who lived and walked these streets, most notably the story of the child Annie, and it felt very fitting to choose Cash for Kids, a charity we can not only fundraise for, but also engage with on a deeper level.

“Being able to present an initial sum of money at the beginning of a new campaign has been extremely joyful, and we know it will be used to help children in need right now during this challenging time.”

The partnership runs for one year from March 2020. The Real Mary King’s Close is part of a group of eight attractions run by tourism specialists Continuum Attractions, whose commitment is to create engaging experiences with purpose for visitors to enjoy. Charity partnerships have been a core part of the organisation for over ten years, with the Group raising over £100,000 during that time. The driving vision for these partnerships is to create people-focused, interactive opportunities that bring staff teams together to have a positive impact on society.

Ian Robertson, Corporate Fundraising Manager, Cash for Kids, says

“What an amazing way to start the new campaign, a donation of this size is fantastic. We’re so pleased to have The Real Mary King’s Close on board as a charity partner, and the positive feedback so far has been great. Our aim is to respond to the needs of children, and this is a really important time to work together, as we all feel the impact of the current climate. We’re definitely looking forward to developing this relationship over the year ahead.”

To find out more and support online: www.forth1.com/appeal

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International Women’s Day: women from the past inspire women in the future

Our successful visitor business is created around the stories of some formidable women from the past, as we tell the tales of interesting and path-carving characters from the 17th century onwards in a number of our attractions. Landowners in Edinburgh, chocolate entrepreneurs in York and political campaigners in Oxford, these women built their successful independent businesses and environments from scratch, and it’s interesting to reflect on International Women’s Day on what we have learnt from the telling of these stories.

Whether it’s 17th century businesswoman and landowner Mary King, namesake of The Real Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh, or 18th century Mary Tuke, recognised as the ‘mother of York’s chocolate industry’, whose tale is told at York’s Chocolate Story, we learn that these women worked to be the very best that they could be. There’s little discussion or documentation of them competing to be better than their male counterparts, despite living and functioning in what were male-dominant societies. They went about their daily lives and built their fruitful careers by concentrating on their own best choices and decisions.

Move to current day, and a similar comparison can be made at Continuum Attractions, a company led by women in senior posts, all striving to do their very own best – a successful group of women in an industry which allows room for gender neutrality, thus attracting purposeful women to thrive. Collectively, the females leading Continuum credit the tourism and hospitality industry for allowing them, and women in general, a nurtured and supported space in which to do well. It’s an industry where gender has largely gone under the radar and where competition between male and female is less of a focus. Perhaps that is the very lesson to learn, that if we all just focused on being the best we can be, like those women before us, there might be less of a conversation around the need for gender equality.

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A Polite Reassurance For Our Attraction Guests regarding Covid-19 (Coronavirus)

The safety and wellbeing of you, our guests, and our team is our priority and we will take all necessary precautions to ensure everyone’s continued welfare.

As you plan your visit to us we want to assure you that we are actively monitoring the situation with regards to Covid-19 (Coronavirus) and are reviewing and following the guidelines of Public Health England.  The advice from the health authorities has not changed, so our attractions are operating as normal and standard terms and conditions on bookings continue to apply.

So firstly, we will welcome all our guests with a warm smile, rather than a handshake!

During your visit, we wish to reassure you that we are taking all possible steps to minimise risk, including the implementation of enhanced cleaning regimes.

We ask you to observe high standards of personal hygiene. There are simple things you can do to help prevent the spread of the virus, including:

  • Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
  • Putting used tissues in the bin immediately
  • Washing your hands with soap and hot water regularly, or using hand sanitiser gel
  • Avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.

We have placed additional hand sanitisers at the entrance and in convenient locations for guests, and we politely ask that you use them regularly.

We want to welcome everyone to our attractions with a warm smile and the reassurance that we have your health in mind, so you can enjoy time with your friends and family.