CASTLE Howard will be the setting for the 15th and final NSPCC Christmas fair there next month before moving to Duncombe Park in 2016.

Last year the fair raised £55,000 from a new extended three-day format for the children’s charity.

“We are firmly focused on making our 2015 NSPCC Christmas fair a resounding success and leap closer towards our half a million pound milestone which we have so far nearly raised for the NSPCC since we moved from The Orangery at Settrington to Castle Howard 15 years ago,” said Harriette Murray Wells, joint chairman of the NSPCC Castle Howard Christmas Fair Committee.

“We shall be very sad to say goodbye to Castle Howard and the Howard family who have tirelessly supported us over the last 15 years but we’re already hugely excited about our new home for next year’s fair,” she said.

A spokesman for Castle Howard: “In 2016 Castle Howard will be extending its Christmas season to give more visitors the opportunity to see the house transformed at this special time. This means that we will be unable to continue accommodating the NSPCC Christmas fair which, after 15 happy years at Castle Howard, will move to Duncombe Park.

“This change is merely the end of one chapter in the history of Castle Howard’s support for this very worthwhile charity. “Discussions are already underway with the NSPCC Committee for us to host a new fundraising event in the future and more information about this will follow in due course.”

The event takes place on November 6 and 7, from 9.30am to 4pm, with a VIP preview evening on Thursday, November 5, from 5pm to 9pm. It will feature 70 stalls and income from ticket sales, sponsors and donations, raffle tickets and 10 per cent of each stallholders’ takings go direct to the charity.

For further information about the Christmas fair please visit nspcccastlehowardchristmas fair.co.uk. The fair’s sponsors include The Rowse Family Trust, JM Finn & Co Investment Management, Strutt & Parker, The Crown in Hutton-le-Hole, and The Orangery Settrington.

Numbers for the preview evening are limited for this “party and shopping” experience so booking is essential with tickets priced £15.

Day tickets for the Friday and Saturday cost £8 and can be bought at the door or online at nspcccastlehowardchristmasfair.co.uk and include entry to the gardens and playground with children under 13 free of charge.