Town mouse - Jessica Fellowes

Jessica attends a charity backgammon and poker tournament in a restaurant in town in aid of the One to One Children's Fund

Town mouse; country life
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(Image credit: Country Life)

The fashionable London restaurant Sketch was the setting this week for a charity backgammon and poker tournament, raising money for the One to One children's fund. The venue could not have enough superlatives applied to it to describe the Baroque, Rococo, and occasionally surreal, decoration. High ceilings with weird and wonderful lights hanging down, chairs with naked women drawn on the back, and white leather sofas added to the look. Dangling ropes of crystal beads, slivers of mirror and glossy tiles everywhere reflected the glasses of Champagne served. The atmosphere, surprisingly, was relaxed and jovial. There was an edge of competitiveness in the backgammon tournament, certainly (I didn't even dare to go into the poker room, where the heat was palpable from two floors down), but players of all abilities were allowed to have a go.

Fortified by the mini hamburgers, sushi, slivers of beef with a spoonful of mash and other dinky delectables, we played, chatted and rolled our die with fervour. If we lost at the table, we at least had a chance of winning at the auction. More than £100,000 was raised, so it was the children who ultimately won, and no one was gammoned.

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.