We know that Christmas and the usual run up to the festive season has changed a little bit over the years. Many of the traditional Christmas events have changed so much, partly due to Covid-19 and now currently due to the high rise of gas and energy bills. That is why we decided to give a little more back to the Care Sector.

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We were honoured to host our first ever Santa's Grotto on Friday 2nd December 2022 to give back to the Care Sector. Our festive fun went down with a bang, with Carers and their friends and families getting to visit Santa in his Christmas Grotto and enjoying some Christmas arts and crafts with the Elves in their workshop.

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“It was a pleasure to see so many people attend our first Pollard’s Promise Christmas grotto. Our aim was to do something special for carers and provide a little bit of magic for the children they bought along. I think it’s fair to say we did just that, I was thrilled to see Santa was kept suitably busy in his grotto handing out presents and listening to the children’s list in time for Christmas day. Our Elves were creating lots of mess in their workshop doing arts and crafts and cookie decorating while the children waited to see Santa” – Lauren Early, Head of Promises.

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To keep the Christmas spirit alive we wanted to create a warm and festive environment where carers and their friends and family can enjoy some quality festive fun with their little ones and see the smile of their little ones faces when meeting Santa.

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Carers and their children enjoyed the elves workshop while waiting to visit Santa. We made sure that there were lots to do. The children enjoyed activities such as cookie decorating, where they decorated ginger snowflakes, angels and Christmas trees with lots of yummy treats, some even snuck their creations to Santa and Mrs Clause in their grotto, which they were very grateful for. Whilst the kids were making a baking mess, parents and grandparents enjoyed a nice glass of festive fizz.

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Another activity the children busied themselves with was writing letters to take  to Santa, in our very popular station, the Elves Arts & Crafts area. The children really were stuck in making cards, gift tags and placemats all with a festive theme. Some of the older children got involved decorating our large chalkboard. We definitely saw some budding Picassos in our workshop and the children couldn't wait to show off their creations to Santa.

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“Pollards Promises is the very essence of Christmas and so the idea of Santas Grotto was borne. It was an amazing event with all the team getting involved to ensure that a good time was had by all the mums, dads and grandparents who are usually helping others and providing wonderful care. A time for them to relax and watch their children and grandchildren have fun. Happy Christmas to all carers and look forward to seeing you next year”. - Lorrie Maslen, Operations Director.

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A big thank you to everyone that helped make our Grotto a reality. The team worked incredibly hard, including our Operations Director Lorrie Maslen, to ensure all the children and their parents had a wonderful event. With care being at the heart of our charitable arm, it made perfect sense for us to give a little bit of Christmas cheer to the end of the year.  

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Thank you to;

Ben - Assistant Admin Manager

Lorrie -  Operations Director

Lauren Early - director of Promises and Domiciliary Care Manager

Shane Pontet - Marketing Executive

Chris Lacey - Accounts Manager

Allison Rundle - Accounts Assistant

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