Father Christmas has helped Llanelli Rotary Club raise more than £1700 for charity.
‘Santa’ was kind enough to come down from the North Pole to sit in the special Rotary Grotto at the BHS store in Trostre, Llanelli, on five days in the run-up to Christmas.
by Robert Lloyd
He was accompanied by some specially-dressed Rotary ‘elves’.
It was a big ‘first’ for Llanelli Rotary – the first time the club has managed to secure the services of Santa in the run-up to Christmas.
“It was very much a team effort between Santa and his North Pole team and members of Llanelli Rotary Club,” said Rotarian Alison Evans, who was one of the organisers.
“Santa was full of the joy of Christmas and most of the young visitors who called in to see him at the grotto were delighted with the experience.
“Fingers crossed, we will be able to secure Santa’s services again next year and repeat the whole exercise.
“Members of Llanelli Rotary Club thoroughly enjoyed getting involved with their local community and the community responded with donations to our charity fund, which is used to support local, national and international causes throughout the Rotary year.
“The results of the Rotary team efforts for the Christmas grotto were amazing. Santa gave away 391 selection boxes. Rotary members collected £2,363.11, which means that we have added a staggering £1782.61 to our charity funds. About £1200 of that was from pure donations from the very generous public of Llanelli.
“The last two days were incredible. About half of the donations came in the last two days. On the Tuesday before Christmas, we took an staggering £504.15!
“All our Rotary greeters had a unique style which certainly helped get the children to the grotto, but there were also some very generous donations and we are grateful to the public of Llanelli for their generous support..
“Along the way, Rotary members acquired some unusual items….six nails, five foreign coins, a battery – and we were donated a “dummy” by a little girl who was promised extra presents for giving it up!
“One visitor commented that she had been to ‘Lapland’ and that our grotto set-up was far better!
“A big thank-you goes to the staff at BHS in Llanelli for their help and support and hospitality.
“Also, another big thank-you to Llanelli firm Sheds and Chalets, who kindly sponsored the grotto.”
Help keep news FREE for our readers
Supporting your local community newspaper/online news outlet is crucial now more than ever. If you believe in independent journalism, then consider making a valuable contribution by making a one-time or monthly donation. We operate in rural areas where providing unbiased news can be challenging. Read More About Supporting The West Wales Chronicle
