Community association makes Christmas dreams come true for more than 300 kids for free in Grotto event

The event was held on Saturday December 11 - with more than 300 children attending and being given free presents by volunteers.

The event was completely free and many of the volunteers and children dressed as their favourite characters - including the Grinch, the Snow Queen and Santa.

Gareth Poole, 40, is a trustee for the charity.

He thanked dedicated volunteers for making the day a great success.

Speaking to the YEP, Gareth said: "We had over 300 children attend and handed out presents to all of them for free.

"We also had hope pastures there with some of their Shetland ponies.

"The event was completely free and our team made a lot of the decorations and dressed as interactive characters on the day

"Our team of volunteers put hundreds of hours into making a lot of the displays by hand to make it super special for the kids locally.

"We wanted this to make up for last year's Christmas events being missed and cancelled at a lot of places due to Covid.

"It was a great success."

The incredible turnaround came after the devastating theft of the original props for the event.

As reported in the YEP, original plans for the event were destroyed by cruel thieves who broke into their lockup and stole vital equipment and paint in late October.

However, the community rallied round with donations to make sure the event could still go ahead.

Speaking at the time, Gareth said: "Everything we do rests on donations and grants so the theft was devastating for us.

"It was not the value of the items stolen which mattered, it was how much disruption it caused.

"They were all of our supplies for our work and the planned event.

"Christmas has been saved by the donations.

"We are very thankful."

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