Wine tasting at The Old Palace raises £5,000 for charity

On Thursday 4th December Bathgate hosted its third annual Christmas wine tasting event at the stunning Old Palace in Chester, welcoming more than 130 guests.

The Old Palace, is one of the earliest Georgian buildings in historic Chester, built in 1751, and an exclusive-use venue with riverside views across The Groves and River Dee. The event was organised by Bathgate and supported by Foresight Group, Reward Funding, Praetura Group and Grosvenor Insurance, who sponsored the event.

Guests enjoyed an indulgent evening sampling fantastic wines and networking with industry peers, while enjoying pizza, Christmas music, a wine quiz and raffle to raise funds for The Hospice of the Good Shepherd.

The raffle raised £2,300, with Liahll Bruce from Barclays generously offering his pound for pound match up to £1,000 raised, bringing the total raised by the raffle up to £3,300. Funds raised through both sponsorship and ticket sales brought the total raised for the hospice to £5,000.

Ian Adams from Bathgate Business Finance said: “It was an absolute pleasure to be back at The Old Palace for another fantastic event. Eighty-four bottles of wine consumed and £5,000 raised for The Hospice of the Good Shepherd is certainly my idea of a good night out!

“Being an active part of our community is vital to Bathgate’s business, so it was brilliant to bring our partners, clients and industry peers together for a festive knees up in support of an incredible local organisation.

“We look forward to bringing the event back to The Old Palace again next year, so put Thursday 3rd December 2026 in your diaries now!”

The Hospice of the Good Shepherd in Chester provides specialist palliative care for people in Cheshire, South Wirral and North Wales. You can find out more about its work here: https://hospiceofthegoodshepherd.com/