Hang out the bunting, it’s time for some Easter holiday revelry and there’s lots going on at Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill and Darwin Shopping Centres next week.

Local artists, Jamila Walker and Jenni Stobbs, will be offering shoppers bags of inspiration at two fun-for-all free crafts workshops – including making novelty bunting and Easter masks – on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 15 and 16, and there’s also a chance for under 16s to snap up some bumper prizes in The Great Egg Hunt.

The hunt has already begun for 20 Easter eggs which have been discreetly hidden in window displays of shops at both Shrewsbury’s main shopping centres.

Shrewsbury Shopping Centres’ community co-ordinator Maggie Love, said: “We’ve had a fantastic response to this year’s Easter egg hunt, both from young people keen to take part and shop owners at Pride Hill and Darwin Shopping Centres who have got right behind it, offering generous prizes and their full-on support.

“They’ve put the eggs in some ingenious places in colour-filled window displays, so families will have lots of fun trying to spot them.”

To join the hunt all youngsters have to do is download an entry form from the Shrewsbury Shopping Centre website or Facebook page or simply collect a form from the post box in The Entertainer store in the Pride Hill Centre.

Next search for all 20 eggs, remembering to write down the names of the stores where they are. Then place the completed entries in the post box at The Entertainer store where the winners will be drawn and announced at 4pm on Friday, April 25.

“We’ve great goodie bag prizes for three winners, packed with gifts donated by many of the shops in the Shrewsbury Shopping Centres, so it really is worth taking part,” said Maggie.

Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Shrewsbury Shopping Centres, said: “We always like to do something for children here during holidays and Maggie, who is a former Arts Development Officer for Shrewsbury, is passionate about involving the local community in centre events.

“We’re already seeing that the youngsters are having great fun on the Egg Hunt and we’ve got some fantastic prizes lined up for them as well.”

Maggie and her colleagues encouraged Shropshire-based Jamila and Jenni to bring their crafts skills to the Pride Hill centre in the run up to Easter.

Jamila, 31, of Shrewsbury, who has a degree in fine arts and photography, said: “We were thrilled to accept Maggie’s invitation. She has some great ideas and, for us, being based at Pride Hill in the very heart of town makes our work so accessible.

“It’s a great opportunity for people who will be in town anyway to get involved in crafts events, when they might not otherwise think of attending them.”

Jamila and mum-of-two Jenni, 29, of Pontesbury, will be at Pride Hill Shopping Centre on April 15, from 11am to 4pm, demonstrating how to make novelty bunting in the shape of Easter bunnies, chicks and eggs. Then the next day, April 16, also from 11am to 4pm, they will be spurring on peoples’ creative instincts once again via a mask-making workshop.

“The best thing is that anyone who joins in will have something they’ve made themselves to take home,” said Jamila.

She and Jenni recently formed a crafts collective under the funky umbrella title Hey Doll! along with another friend, Dulcie Hall, 29, also of Shrewsbury.

Jamila said: “All three of us are crafts fans, and we’ve each been practising our various arts, doing workshops, exhibiting and creating personalised gifts for family and friends.

“It’s been going well so far. We especially enjoy working with children and we always make sure that everyone makes something to take home. No matter whether they are crafty types themselves or have never made a craft item in their lives before, we will give them the skills to make a nice keepsake.”

Jamila, who gets married later this year to jazz musician boyfriend, Stuart Thomas, has even roped her other half into some of the events.

“Stuart has been great at supporting our crafts events and even provided us with musical accompaniment at some of them,” she said.

All three women still continue with their individual arts strands when not working together. Jenni and Dulcie also find time to continue their college studies while Jamila is a dedicated member of the Arts for Health collective.

The Egg Hunt prizes include Easter Eggs, a Fruit and Chocolate Hamper, Easter Egg Bath Bombs, Nail Varnishes, Gift Vouchers, Books, dinks and cakes, a children’s haircut, sweets and Egg Shakers.

They have been donated by Cherries Fruit & Veg, Chikpe, Claires, Blow & Go, M&S, Boots Opticians, WH Smith, Blue Inc, Mothercare, The Entertainer, Café Georgia, New Look, Supercuts, Mollies, Golden Guitars and Wilkinson.

Wine lovers have helped to raise hundreds of pounds for a North Wales children’s hospice by sampling their favourite tipple.

Customers took the chance to help Bodnant Welsh Food’s new Wine Shop raise £510 for Tŷ Gobaith hospice nearby in the Conwy Valley.

The Wine Cellar held a Spring Tasting session to show off the wide range available at the new store at Bodnant’s base, Furnace Farm, at Tal-y-Cafn, Conwy.

Wine Shop and Wine Cellar Manager Tim Watson said: “It was a fantastic turn-out. We had loads of people through the door, a mix of pre-booked tickets and people who dropped in on the spur of the moment, while visiting Bodnant Welsh Food centre.

“There was a mix of regular Bodnant customers, some of whom brought friends along to see where they get their wines from, to people from around the UK who were in the area.

“It’s been a great way to show off what wines we have on offer, as many people then headed to the Wine Cellar to buy a bottle of what they’d just sampled. For the five wine suppliers who came along on the day, it was a great chance to meet their customers and talk about their range, as they are very knowledgeable and have often visited the vineyards themselves.”

Among the connoisseurs taking the chance to sample over 50 fine wines from across the world were friends Dorothy Marshall from Eglwysbach and Ann Boulton from nearby Maenan, who are both retired.

“I usually prefer dry wine, but this has been a chance for me to try reds and rosé wines as well, plus different white wine grape varieties. It’s been a pleasure sampling the wines. Plus this is a lovely way to support Tŷ Gobaith, which does so  such good work – I’m always happy to do what I can for the hospice,” said Dorothy.

For Ann, it was a chance to step away from her usual tipple of rosé wine. “There’s a great range of wines here, and I can’t wait to try some of them. This is an excellent way of sampling a wine before deciding which one to buy, as well as raising money for Tŷ Gobaith,” said Ann.

Retired company directors Valerie and David Noakes took time out from a holiday break on Anglesey to sample the wines.

“We came to Bodnant Welsh Food centre on Sunday and saw the Spring Tasting advertised, so decided to come back and try some wines,” said Valerie. “I hadn’t heard about the hospice before but this sounds an excellent and novel way to raise funds for its work.”

David added: “We live in Kent and so we often go over to France for the day or short break to try wines, visit vineyards and pick up some bargains. We like to try a range as we tend to match wines with food. However, we’ve come across some wines we haven’t tried before -  plus a New Zealand wine  from a Marlborough vineyard that I visited when we were staying there. The wine supplier had been as well, so it brought back some great memories.”

The Spring Tasting had more than 50 wines, from Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand plus Russia and Wales, selected by Tim and Bodnant wine consultant Michael Vick, who manages the wine list in the Hayloft, Bodnant’s restaurant.

The pair also run Bodnant’s wine school, which offers courses in wine discovery, appreciation, flavour association and food and wine matching. It also has a wine club which meets on the first Wednesday of every month.

Tŷ Gobaith was established in 2004 to provide care and support to life-limited children, young people and their families from across North Wales. It offers a range of services, including respite and end-of-life care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Bodnant Welsh Food is a strong supporter of the hospice, with money from its carrier bag charge going to the charity.

Fundraising Manager, Sarah Kearsely-Wooller MBE said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Bodnant Welsh Food, with their support including acting as hosts for our sell-out clay pigeon shoot on May 21 as well as well as providing donations from the carrier bag charge.

“At Tŷ Gobaith - just 2.5 miles away – we are indebted to Bodnant Welsh Food for their continued commitment to our work at the hospice, caring for life threatened babies, children, young people and their families.

“We really enjoy working alongside the Bodnant Welsh Food team and will do, especially in 2014, when we are celebrating our 10^th birthday.”

Tim, 37, who is originally from Bangor and now lives in Colwyn Bay, came to the world of fine wine after deciding to give his life a new focus after enjoying a successful career in television.

He explained: “I began working in TV production for the BBC in the year 2000, starting out as a runner in the development department and working my way up through the ranks.

“In 2003 I became a casting director with the drama department at the BBC’s headquarters at White City during which time I helped find faces to appear in some of the UK’s best loved drama series, including Eastenders and Doctors.

“Although I enjoyed the job, a few years ago I decided on a change of career direction. I’d caught the wine bug after visiting vineyards while travelling around Australia and New Zealand some years previously, so I went for wine.

“I moved back to North Wales from London in 2009 and had my specialist wine training with a major company in Bangor.

“Another reason for coming back to North Wales was that my wife Nicole and I have two young sons, Charlie George, who is four, and Jack Tomos, who is 18 months old, and we wanted them to have the same sort of lovely childhood that I had in this area.”

Tim added: “I was lucky enough to get the job at Bodnant and have spent a lot of  putting it together with the help of Michael Vick, our wine consultant. I’m in charge of the shop and the wine cellar which serves our Hayloft Restaurant.

“The shop is well stocked with wines from across the world, ranging in price from £5.50 to £118 a bottle, however I’d say that 35 to 40 per cent of our wines are under £10.

“All the bottles are displayed with a full description of what they are and how they taste and if people want more information about a particular bottle I’m always on hand to tell them all they need to know.

“I can also advise people who come into the shop on which wine is the perfect accompaniment to different foods. I believe you’ve got to get the right balance of food and wine.

“Our selection of Welsh wines is becoming increasingly popular and we have three producers whose products we stock, from Pembrokeshire, Montgomeryshire and Monmouthshire.

“We even have the Welsh equivalent of champagne, a sparkling wine made by the champagne method.

“Wine is an exciting world and I learn something new about it every day.

For more information about Tŷ Gobaith please visit www.hopehouse.org.uk or ring 01492 596 581.