My day in Reading - what a lot of new competitions!

Grape Vine readers, and others who have read my "A day in the life..." post, will know that I try to have at least one day a week devoted entirely to visiting as many shops as possible in search of new competitions. Some days they are utter failures and I come home with nothing at all, but most trips yield a fair crop of new competitions. However yesterday I staggered home with a bumper bundle of new competitions, and some of them close very soon so read on for more information. For anything you need to act on before the next issue of Grape Vine comes out, the information you need is given here.

This week for my "safari" I drove to Reading and parked in the Oracle centre, so my first stop was the shopping centre there. Although these competitions were found in Reading, they should be available in branches of the same stores all over the country.

Shoon had an entry form with their Ecco Gore-Tex shoes - simply try a pair on to be given an entry form to hand in for a draw to win a trip to the Ice Hotel. Closing 30 Nov.

The Fenn Wright Manson concession in House of Fraser had a form to hand in for a draw to win £500 worth of gift vouchers and £500 of diamond jewellery, closing 11 Dec.

Also in House of Fraser, the Triumph lingerie department had a form to hand in when you bought any item of Triumph lingerie, for a chance to win a trip on the Orient Express, closing 31 Dec.

Heading on through the centre, I passed Disney store  where the Gift List competition closes on 27 Nov  and New Look where store card holders will  be given a lucky treat envelope  every time they make a purchase  of £30 or more, until 15 Dec. Each envelope will contain a treat ranging from a discount voucher to a holiday.  Ernest Jones had a comp with GC  watches, closing 16 Dec (for full details, see the December Grape Vine).

H Samuel had a form to hand in for a chance to win a Chamilia bangle, closing 04 Dec and Hush Puppies  had one to hand in to win a pair of shoes a month for a year (oh, yes please!) closing 31 Dec. Another form to hand in in L'Occitane - sign up to their mailing list for a chance to win a £500 hamper. No closing date was given.

The Bank Fashion catalogue  contains several competitions, all closing in December and January, while the Office one  directs you to www.office.co.uk/competitions/merrellaw11 for a chance to win a chalet holiday in the french Alps,closing 31 Nov.

Moss Bros have posters advertising a competition to win  a 40" LCD TV and Blu-ray home entertainment system and  a digital camera, with 10 runners up getting a digital camera and  a copy of the film The Hangover Part II. Closing 11 Dec.

In Debenhams the Virgin Travel shop had a form to hand in for a chance to win £1,000 off your next holiday, closing 30 Nov.

My final stop in the Oracle was HMV  where I bought a copy of the DVD Top Gear At The Movies which had a sticker on the outside saying "Win a trip to the Valencia Grand Prix". Apparently the comp details are on the DVD, so as  it doesn't close until 22 Mar I've not watched it yet. I was pleased to find that the DVD case also contains a comp to win a Smart TV, which also closes next March.

Out into the town centre itself, to hand  in my own entry for  the  Clas Ohlsen competition. Check your November Grape Vine update for a reminder of the details - it closes on 10 Dec.

High and Mighty menswear  shop had a form to hand in to enter a draw for £1,000 to spend in  store, closing 29 Feb. A few doors along,  Jessops catalogue features two rather specialised photography competitions.

In Hawkins Bazaar you are given an entry form when you spend  at least £10. Fill it in there and then and return it to the assistant for entry into a draw to win £1,000, closing on Christmas Eve. The Modelzone catalogue says there is a Christmas competition in store with £100 and 5 x £20 vouchers to be won, but all I could find was their usual monthly draw for £50 of vouchers. And talking of catalogues, the JD Sports catalogue contains a competition to win a trip to next year's Snowbombing Festival, closing 31 Dec.

In the Altimus store, the Paramó catalogue contains a comp to win walking equipment, closing 01 Feb and a reminder of the ongoing  Nikwax competition.

Having exhausted the town centre, I drove on to some of the out of town retail parks. First stop was  Toys'R'Us to spend some gift vouchers I had won. The assistant persuaded me to take up the offer of a Gold Card loyalty card, and I'm glad I did as registering it online at www.toysrus.co.uk/register gets you entered  into a draw to win a £500 trolley dash, closing 30 Nov.

Then on to Hobbycraft where, as usual, I spent far too much. Luckily there was a money-off voucher in the latest issue of their magazine, which also is giving away a trip to the Ice Hotel - head over to www.bluedoor-media.co.uk/lapland  to enter. Closing 30 Nov.  There are other giveaways in the mag, which will be listed in the December GV.

My next stop was Tesco where I picked up a pack of Sugar Puffs with a competition on them to win one of 40 x Wii and 5,010 x Skylanders characters. This closes 30 Sep 2012. A few other on-pack competitions I spotted turned out to have closed,  but a leaflet promoting the Tesco credit cardhad details of a draw to win back the cost of Christmas. closing 05 Jan, and one at the Tesco Pharamacy had a draw to win a holiday to Lapland, closing 31 Dec.

By this time the sky had turned black and  it was about to pour with rain, so, with a quick glance in The Range and Majestic Wine to see if either had any new competitions (they didn't) I headed home. But my day wasn't over - I  had to sort through all the Christmas brochures and catalogues I had picked up to see if any of them contained competitions, and then open lots of mail for the London Competitors Club of which I am Membership Secretary.  It is renewals time and renewals are flooding in thick and fast.

When my husband got home he said, "Have you done anything today?"
"Oh," I replied, "Just the usual....."