I’ll let you in on a little secret. I don’t like tea. I know this is sacrilege given how terribly English I am in every other way (*joins queue to buy fish & chips*) but I just can’t get my head around a drink that takes so much effort; you have to brew it, work out the right milk to sugar ratio, let it cool a bit, then sip it for the next fifteen minutes. Just gimme a diet coke I can down in 20 seconds, please. I like my caffeine fix straight from the fridge (and I don’t drink coffee either).

However, what I do like is afternoon tea. Give me tiny little sandwiches, ridiculous miniature cakes and macarons that smell like perfume and even I can choke down a cup or two of green or peppermint tea for the sake of appearance. Or just order the champagne.

There’s something very fashion-esque about a nice afternoon tea, especially given that the locations of some of the nicest tea rooms in London are also the homes of some of the best shopping (that’s me in Liberty in the pic above, I dare you to leave their beauty hall without buying something).

But how about making it all a little bit more personal?

For the next month or so, Marie Curie are encouraging people to host their own tea parties to raise money for Marie Curie nurses, who provide free care for people with terminal cancer and illnesses in their own home. Every £20 raised will pay for an hour of nursing care. And apparently last year’s tea parties raised enough money to fund 30,200 hours of care.

That’s a pretty amazing perk for what is essentially an excuse to get your mates round, put on a ridiculous frock and play ladies who lunch for a few hours. I’m planning my theme as we speak. I’m thinking Betty Draper meets Stepford Wives.

Speaking of ridiculous frocks, here are some suggestions of what to wear for your own tea party…

For more info on how to host your own tea party, visit the Marie Curie Website.