July sees two mouthwatering Live&Love reader socials.

On Sunday 11th July, the eighth annual York Rotary Dragon Boat Challenge is taking place over the usual 250 metre stretch of the River Ouse, between Scarborough Bridge and Lendal Bridge. Live&Love will be taking to the water as part of the Make York team, whose chosen charity (in addition to the Boat Challenge-nominated charity St Leonards Hospice) is Our Celebration. Our Celebration helps people recovering from mental health problems to progress towards recovery, social inclusion and integration in mainstream activities like learning, volunteering or employment.

It is hoped this year continues the good fundraising form of the seven previous challenges, which have raised a staggering £480,000 in total for charity.

Donate to the York Rotary Dragon Boat charity

Why not join us on the day?

In addition to the races which never fail to deliver a great spectacle, a Gala Day atmosphere is created with stalls, BBQs, and host of other activities on the North Bank.

Social #1: World Cup Final at House of The Trembling Madness

The races are due to run from 10am to 4pm, after which Live&Love are holding a reader afterparty to coincide with the World Cup final (KO 7:30pm). From 6pm, we have hired out wonderful new bar House of The Trembling Madness on Stonegate, sister bar of Evil Eye Lounge and have room for 60 guests. A projector has been installed in the 12-century medieval hall for the occasion, and a buffet will be put on to accompany their fine selection of delightful beers.
It is a strictly ticket affair, so be quick and reserve your place .

To cover the price of the buffet, tickets are priced at £7.50 (+ 50p Paypal fee).

Social #2: Chocolate cooking at The Cooking Rooms

Yorkshire Chocolatiers, Little Pretty Things, create hand made chocolates using Yorkshire’s finest flavours and produce including fruits, real ales and even cheeses. Join us on Thursday 22nd July for an evening at The Cooking Rooms (www.thecookingrooms.com) for product development – tasting and flavour matching to help us develop some new and exciting chocolates, we’ll explore chocolate combinations with interesting products – even bring your own along and we’ll create a brand new chocolate for you to sample and critique.

This hands on treat that will rival your average Thursday night out! Limited places available. Tickets Only £15