It can be a sad time when someone is leaving, whether they’re moving to a new job, moving house, having a baby or retiring. Often, purchasing them a gift can make it difficult to pick something that they’ll love and appreciate. Of course, flowers and chocolates are lovely gifts but how about gifting them something you know they’ll get lots of use out of? For countryside living, these 5 leaving gift ideas are incredibly thoughtful and practical!
A picnic set
If they plan on retiring to enjoy more of the outside or perhaps it’s a leaving gift for someone starting a family, one of the most thoughtful gifts to put together might be a picnic set. It could be an upgrade to what they already have or something to leave in the car for family adventures. A picnic set makes a great gift for a family of any kind if they love spending time outdoors.
Any good picnic starts with the food. However, a carrier bag just won’t do it, especially during a heatwave or if you have a selection of fridge items. For a family picnic, you’ll need a family-sized cool bag. Whether it’s to spend the day in the park, at the beach or at the zoo, you’ll need a range of food and drink to hand, especially with children around. The main compartment is fully insulated so adding in a couple of freezer blocks will ensure everything stays cold for as long as possible. With dimensions 30cmx32cmx33cm, there is plenty of room for a day’s worth of food and drink for the family. It features two shorter handles and a handy long strap as well as a small front pocket and internal mesh zipped pocket on the inside of the lid.
If they’re moving to another job, perhaps a smaller lunch bag might do the trick. Once again, it features two shorter handles, fully insulated lining and an inner mesh pocket. We can assure you that it will get used tonnes as we have lots of these around the Rydale offices as staff love them!
Other than food, what’s the most important item for a family picnic? Something to sit on! Our tweed picnic rugs are perfect for families for days out in the sun. To make them super practical, they have a thick, water-resistant base, ideal for if it’s rained the night before and the grass is a little soggy. The upper layer is our soft and luxurious tweed but it’s equally sturdy and long-lasting. For this rug, there’s even a handy carry strap so it can be rolled up after it’s been used and stored away much easier.
For an extra special person, a set of matching cushions to their blanket. However, a regular cushion isn’t going to do. Our outdoor tweed cushions have been designed for exactly that: the outdoors! The waterproof backing means that the bottom side of the cushion can be put on the ground directly. It means the inner cushion stays dry and the upper tweed material is also showerproof. The short handle makes it easy to carry around too.
A cosy pair of slippers
Who doesn’t like to stay cosy? One of life’s best feelings is being warm and cosy at home, perhaps under a blanket or beside a fire. The easiest way to cosy at home is in a pair of soft slippers. It’s a simple pleasure but many of us live in our slippers after a long day at work. Some might even wear them at work, especially if they work from home!
A pair of suede slippers feels like the ultimate indulgence to lounge around in at home but why shouldn’t we have a bit of luxury in our own house? The outer suede is soft and supple and the inner faux fur lining is like walking on clouds. Keep them by your bed so you can slide your feet right into them every morning and leave them by the front door before you leave the house in a morning. Both the men’s and women’s styles feature a pheasant-print tread and purchasing them as a gift for someone is so incredibly thoughtful.
In typical Rydale fashion, we couldn’t offer an item without having a tweed alternative! The ladies’ pair have the same faux fur lining, ideal for slipping on and taking off quickly. The men’s tweed slippers have a sherpa fleece lining, making your feet even cosier inside. The tweed outer lining is slightly tougher than the suede pairs, making them perfect for running out of the front door for the mail or to the garage.
A Wellington boot bag
When you spend a lot of time outdoors, whether it’s walking in the countryside, working on a farm or spending lots of time in the garden, you’ll probably live in a pair of Wellington boots. However, you’ve probably never thought about where or how to store them. Our Wellington boot bags are a great solution for that. As a gift, it’s possibly something that the recipient has never thought about buying themselves but a very thoughtful gift nonetheless.
There are so many features in our bags, from a top handle carrying strap, four feet for a sturdy base, a mesh side section for breathability and a wider zipped opening for easy access. Whilst it’s been designed for wellies, any tall boots can be stored in them. Many of our customers actually have two boot bags. They keep one in the car for muddy boots to store following a hike as well as a clean one for the home once their boots have been cleaned and dried. Whether they love patterns or traditional country colours, there’s an option for any gift.
A matching bag and purse
A lady can never have too many bags, that’s the motto. You need a separate bag for every occasion, such as an evening clutch bag, a daytime long strap bag and a sturdy backpack for days out. It’s also important that when you’re buying a new bag, you of course need a new purse to match it too. Bags and purses make such lovely gifts for any woman as long as you get the right bag for their lifestyle and wardrobe.
One of our favourite products is our Helmsley leather cross body bag, with a variety of straps and colourways to choose from. It features a full zip closure as well as a smaller internal zipped pocket and is the perfect everyday bag for running errands. The interchangeable strap can be changed for another style or even removed to use as a night-time clutch bag. A purse to complement this bag is the Helmsley long snaffle purse. It has plenty of room for storing cards, cash (in a zipped pocket) and receipts with a snap fastening to keep everything secure.
If you think they’d prefer something more countryfied, how about a tweed bag with leather elements? For a larger bag, the tweed tote bag is a gorgeous blend of a modern style of bag with traditional materials. Large enough to fit a small laptop or iPad, this could become their go-to work bag. This has an additional internal zipped pocket as well as one on the outside too, ideal for your phone to keep close to your body. With both a larger and a smaller coin purse to match the bag, it would make such a lovely leaving gift idea for an elegant country lady.
A selection of dog gifts
This might seem like a strange leaving gift for someone but dog owners adore their dogs and love to treat them. We’re constantly adding to our range of dog gifts because you just love them. Our top three items for leaving gift ideas are coats, collars and lead.
Dog coats and jumpers
We’ve tried to create a collection of dog coats for every type of weather and that’s meant creating many designs similar to our human ones! One of the most popular designs is the Huggate, due to its moleskin trims and thermal fleece properties. The fleece material has a little stretch to it, ideal for freedom of movement during their dog walks together. Whilst it’s not waterproof, it is showerproof, just in case the rain comes before they get home. For a lighter fleece, the Yapham is a great option that is available in fourteen different colours as well as five different patterns. The high neck gives them extra protection from the chilly weather and these fleece jumpers can be thrown straight into the washing machine after their walk.
If there’s a jacket that any country dog should have, it’s a tweed jacket to match their human! This coat is perfect for dry winter days because the sherpa lining will keep short-coated dogs warm outside on a cold winter’s day. It’s one of our easiest jackets to put on too with just two Velcro straps (one across the chest and one across the belly) so it won’t be a fight to get it on! Alternatively, a wax jacket is a great waterproof option and remains waterproof, provided that you use a wax protectant on it, just like a regular waxed jacket.
Collars and leads
For a smaller gift, how about a matching dog lead and collar? Our polo belt collection means there are a tonne of colourways to choose from so there’s a colour for every pooch. Both are made from genuine leather so you know that you’ll be gifting someone a top quality product that’s designed to be durable but also stylish.
Coming up with a leaving gift idea can be as simple as buying something they will love but also use. Country folk love practical gifts so it’s important to think about function first because you also want value for money. Club together with other people to have a larger budget but also know you can buy a quality gift with a smaller budget too.