Hutton Wandesley Stables hosts The Yorkshire Pop Up fashion and lifestyle event for Cystic Fibrosis Care

Twice a year, in April and September, this lovely converted Victorian stable block and its adjacent two-and-a-half acre garden are taken over by The Yorkshire Pop Up, a lifestyle shopping fair where around 30 independent brands from across the UK are invited to showcase their designs and products to a host of visiting shoppers.

This spring’s event takes place next week when, as before, there will be covetable fashion brands alongside indie designers and retailers for home and garden, jewellery, beauty, textiles, plus vintage and reclamation finds.

Each Pop Up supports a chosen local charity and this April’s will be in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Care, co-established by Yorkshire Pop Up founder, Sasha York, who runs Hutton Wandesley Estate with her husband, Christy.

The 3,000-acre traditional rural estate lies seven miles west of York and incorporates arable farming (growing potatoes for crisps, wheat for biscuits and bread, barley for whisky, hemp for local mattress company Harrison Spinks, peas and oil seed rape), alongside ancient woodlands, residential lets, commercial office space and holiday cottages.

The estate has belonged to the York family for 150 years, with Sasha and Christy, and their three sons, taking over the running from Christy’s parents in 2014. They knew they had to diversify to survive, so started by transforming a plot of land into holiday cottages (www.marstonlodgefarm.co.uk.

In 2017, Sasha dreamed of bringing the Walled Garden back to life and converting the stable block into a rather special events space. The Stables is connected via a courtyard to the event barn, which opens onto the two-and-a-half acre garden, creating a peaceful haven minutes from York city centre. Completed in September 2022, it offers facilities for private and corporate events, and a limited number of weddings.

Sasha also runs her own events here, including a pop-up café when the Walled Garden opens as part of the National Open Garden Scheme (the next one is September 14).

This is also where she hosts The Yorkshire Pop Up fairs, founded also in 2022. The upcoming one will be a poignant and extra-special event, held in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Care, the charity she set up in 2015 with Christy, alongside Patricia Kilpatrick, the year after their middle son, Charlie, had received a bilateral lung transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital. It was a journey followed by the BBC, and featured in the documentary Fight to Breathe.

Devastatingly for the family and all who knew him, Charlie sadly lost his battle with cystic fibrosis in January this year, aged just 20. “He was an incredible young man, a true creator, a talented artist and musician. He had just started a sound engineering and music production course in London and was busy writing and producing his own music when he became unwell,” Sasha says.

“Following his lung transplant, Charlie lived a very full, action-packed life, in spite of taking a multitude of daily pills, including anti-rejection drugs, vitamins, prophylactic antibiotics and pancreatic enzymes. Charlie also suffered from CF-related diabetes.

“On meeting Charlie, you would never know, he kept his illness to himself and was far more interested in others and how his friends were.

“Cystic fibrosis is a cruel, life-threatening, hereditary, genetic illness for which, despite improvements with drug therapy and medicine, there is still no cure.”

Cystic Fibrosis Care offers support to the CF community, with dedicated CF specialist centres, including at Leeds and York hospitals. The charity buys much-needed state-of-the-art equipment not available through the NHS, most recently, a new liver scanner for all patients at St James’s Hospital. It provides welfare grants to patients and their families, and specialist training grants for nurses. To date, it has raised more than £1.2 million and celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.

Christy and Sasha are continuing Cystic Fibrosis Care in Charlie’s memory and to help others in the CF community, having seen first-hand the care and support that is needed. The charity organises many events throughout the year, visit www.cysticfibrosiscare.org.uk to find out more.

Next week’s Yorkshire Pop Up will honour Charlie. Sasha says: “Charlie was the bravest, kindest person, full of hope and had a real zest for life.”

As well as raising charity funds, Sasha’s aim in founding The Yorkshire Pop Up was to support British independent and emerging brands, and to bring curated collections to Yorkshire.

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“There is something for everyone, every age and especially introducing brands you won’t find on the high street, all in the beautiful setting at Hutton Wandesley Stables,” she says, adding that, for each event, 70 per cent of the brands are new, to make sure there is always something fresh for all visitors to see.

Fashion brands this time include Lexy London, Loved by Da, Liv & Beck, Samson Reed, Bricks and Stitches and Ridley London, and there are accessory, wellbeing, homes and gardens indies also taking part, including Sasha’s own company Sash in the Garden (she has a wonderful Instagram account @sashinthegarden to help people create and get the most out of their garden, no matter the size).

This month’s Yorkshire Pop Up opens with a preview evening, 5-9pm, on Wednesday, April 30, kicking off with a fashion show with cocktails by Yorkshire Nine Tines Vodka and canapés by Clara Nicholl catering, plus lots of time to shop (tickets are £20, from Eventbrite and on the door).

The following day, Thursday, May 1, the Yorkshire Pop Up is open 9am-4pm (entry tickets £5, also from Eventbrite and on the door) and there will be a cafe serving breakfast, lunch and cakes, with the Walled Garden open for all visitors to enjoy. The event will offer visitors the perfect opportunity to see part of this beautiful estate for themselves, while raising money for a wonderful charity. There is parking and all the stalls are inside the venue.

See www.huttonwandesleystables.co.uk

Hutton Wandesley Stables has other events too, including many different workshops throughout the year, with upcoming ones for gardening, willow weaving, oil painting, calligraphy, social media and more. A monthly Secret Supper Club featuring guest chefs is run by Samphire & Sage.

The Stables has luxury accommodation, catering for 22 guests in 11 en-suite bedrooms fully catered or self-catered.