As anyone who came out to greet Santa on Friday night will tell you, Dickens Heath did itself proud.
Hundreds and hundreds of families turned out to welcome the man in red for his first trip around the Heath, making it Shirley Round Table’s busiest night across the whole three weeks that they are touring around the local area.
The night raised £521.30, which is one of the best collections they have ever had. 50% of the total goes to the Round Table and the other 50% goes straight to the school’s fund to buy a pig for the farm!
And it’s all thanks to the fantastic campaigning to get him here and the brilliant organisation by Darren Hulbert, Rob and Sarah Jurkowski, Chris Cherry, Pete Ridgers, Alison Gale, Duncan Kellett, Balwinder Sehmi, Julie Shepherd and many, many others (so sorry if I’ve missed anyone out – feel free to correct me below!).
Thanks also to the patient drivers who got stuck behind Santa’s sleigh (e.g. the majority of you)…with so many excited children around everyone was grateful for your patience and Christmas spirit. The minority of drivers who got cross and mounted the pavement to get past are on Santa’s naughty list. You know who you are!
Needless to say, Santa will be back in 2013. Here’s to an even bigger reception for him next year.
Merry Christmas everyone…what a lovely village this is.
So glad they decided to come to dickens Heath. I had asked Shirley round table last year and this year but thought they weren’t coming so was very pleased that my little ones got to see Santa. And by the sound of it, it was well worth the visit to dickens Heath.