Christmas Joy and Generosity

What fun our Christmas season has been a privilege to bring some joy to our children and families. Rowena undertook a sponsored cold swims challenge to raise the funds for our Christmas events and hampers, with only one swim left to complete out of the ten weekly swims. It has been ever more of a challenge to keep getting into the reservoir as the temperatures have steadily dropped. Thank you to all of you who sponsored me to enable us to do something special for our children and families. People’s generosity helped me to push through and keep going in the cold.

We started with the teenage Christmas event at the beginning of December, taking them on a special teenage package for bowling followed by gourmet burgers. The teens especially enjoyed the novelty of mocktails while bowling, and all looked very grown up sipping their mocktails, while bowling and mingling. There was a noticeable step up in the quality of relationships between the young people, following the residential adventure weekend in October, and lovely to see the enthusiasm as they greeted each other. The residential weekend included lots of team building activities, and it is encouraging to see the positive impact of this.

The following weekend was our annual family party, aimed at those with children under 12 years, though we were delighted that some of the older teenage siblings joined us too. We were around 50 people. Guests started with some Christmas sports or creative making as guests arrived. Lots of effort went into the gingerbread person decorating competition with some impressive designs, making mini snow gloves added a Christmas focus, while all ages loved the opportunity to make a customised bead keyring with their names, and the slime table was its usual hit with the children.

A wild science presenter provided the special feature - bringing a collection of animals to meet, stroke and hold. Many overcame their initial fear to hold a snake and frog. The tarantula was in a bad mood, so was viewed from the box (I was safely outside the room at this point, not being a spider lover) and the highlight for many was holding and stroking the Chinchilla which is apparently the softest, fluffiest mammal in the world.

The Turkish food from a local restaurant went down a treat, before the children were let loose on a Christmas treasure hunt to solve the code word for santa. Gifts and pictures with Santa were a highlight for many, to make a special end to the afternoon. Families were sent home with a food hamper, a mix of essentials and Christmas treats to help relieve some pressure with the cost of living crisis exacerbated by Christmas and the cold season.

The lovely sense of community, friendship and joy in the children, families and volunteers makes all the hard work and cold swims worth it. Thank you to the generosity of our volunteers with their time and those who sponsored me for covering the financial cost. We couldn’t have done it without you.