Fine dining and great service
Imagine an evening of fine dining served to perfection by your own daughter and her friends! On 29 March 2025 the mums and dads of the Intermediates at Hillcrest Girls’ Club were treated to just such an occasion.
The girls started preparations well in advance. Each week from Christmas to the big day itself, the girls were learning about all the elements which go into putting on such a great event. They covered event planning, menu planning and front-of-house skills. They also had sessions on dish and beverage preparation, not forgetting the all-important presentation skills.
The girls enjoyed the lessons on waitressing. “I loved how we learned how to do formal waitressing – and was so surprised at how well we all did it on the night!” said club girl Clara.
Teamwork
Teamwork is key to putting on an ambitious event like this. And a workshop specifically on this topic was a crucial part of the preparations. This certainly paid off and helped the girls. Club girl Sophie said, “It was fun working together as a team. I had a really good time and the leaders were all really helpful.”
It was a busy evening for the girls. Club leader Catriona explained, “The girls did really well as a team. We put a lot of thought beforehand into learning about teamwork and what qualities are needed to make a team work successfully.
“Prior to the event the girls took part in a brainstorming session to draw up a set of rules for the day, to make sure that the evening would go well. These included smiling, being positive, being aware of others and what was needed, and helping others out without being asked. All this, even if you are feeling tired.”
The big day
The big day finally arrived. Some of the older club girls helped out with the final stages of the cooking and food preparation. Then it was time to turn the local church hall into a dining room fit for the occasion.
The girls all arrived an hour and a half in advance of the dinner to set up the tables and chairs. They folded the napkins and arranged the table decorations, showing off the skills they had learnt in club sessions.
Next up was preparing the cocktails and setting up the space needed for plating up the different dishes.
At last, all was ready and the special guests arrived. The girls’ parents were surprised and delighted by what they saw. “The night was so beautiful and so well put together!” and “It was very impressive!” were just some of the comments.
For the girls it was clearly a very worthwhile and positive experience. “It was such a fun night, I really enjoyed seeing the parents all so happy!” said Gimena. “I’ve learned a lot in the weeks preparing for this event. I really enjoyed running the mocktail bar and seeing how the parents enjoyed the evening,” added Lucy.
Wonderful evening
“The inspiration for this event was to show parents how their daughters enjoy being in the club and working together with the other girls in a team,” said Catriona. “This was a great opportunity to get the parents together to meet each other and for the leaders to spend a bit more time with the parents, talking to them and getting to know them. We really hope that this wonderful evening helped them to see the formative work we carry out at Hillcrest.”
Clearing up after such an event is a test of everyone’s good will and good humour. The girls set to and finished this task with the same good spirit which had pervaded the evening.
The parents showed their appreciation with a flurry of messages: “Thank you so much for the lovely dinner!! We had a wonderful time!! Thank you so much for organising it!” “Thank you to all involved in the preparation and in making tonight’s dinner so wonderful.”
This was a memorable evening for everyone. A great way for parents to see at first hand just how good Hillcrest Girls’ Club can be for their daughters and to spread the word to other families.
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