Just a few weeks back I told you how excited I was about my very special phone call from Father Christmas who called me to see if I could be his little helper in his grotto in Huntingdon – of course I had said yes, quickly got my elf outfit dusted off and before I knew it, it was the ‘Big Day’ when I was able to put on my elf outfit and walk with the sound with jingling bells everywhere I went.
It was as part of Huntingdon Rotary club fundraising, the council had provided a summer house converted into a wonderful Santa’s Grotto and Tesco had provided Santa with some goodie bags of sweets and treats (which caused some confusion to the children that had just asked for a bike, a Barbie or a teddy bear!).
Anyhow, my point is the way it felt. Being Santa’s Little Helper is of course a massive job and of huge importance. It genuinely felt like an honour to be asked to take on such a popular and lovable role. Aside from that, we had children queuing up all day long, some with letters for Santa, others with lists of what they’d like and some that were just petrified of the whole experience.
The fact that seeing Santa wasn’t charged, just a donation, meant that the opportunity to meet Santa was open to everyone and that was what made the situation even more special. Not only were children able to meet Santa, have a chat with Santa, get some treats from Santa and even have a photo with Santa, but the parents wouldn’t need to worry about not having enough money to pay for the experience.
If there is anything going on in your area that needs volunteers then I strongly encourage you to get involved, the warm feeling you’ll get inside compares to nothing else… although it was very cold so the hot mocha that was delivered to me was a very welcome warm feeling inside.
Many of us have seen the Santa Sleighs being pulled round local villages, why not offer your help and see if you can collect with them too – they’ll be really grateful for your help!