Designed and created by the extraordinarily talented Amanda Dazely, who has worked on the sets of the Harry Potter films amongst others, Amanda created her biggest Grotto to date. A big space was needed for her plans, so our wonderful corporate partner, PRO Nursing, kindly gave us the ground floor of their offices on Bridge Road.

The healthcare company’s office was transformed into a festive winter wonderland which took families on a journey through a trail of discovery as they hunted for six elves who were each responsible for a special ingredient that when mixed together created the ‘Spirit of Christmas’. Children had to collect six stamps as they made their way around the enchanting grotto. They were also invited to write a special wish and add it to the ‘Sacred Wishing Tree’ before meeting Santa in his beautiful cabin.

More than 560 people visited the grotto between Wednesday and Sunday, and through ticket sales alone, we raised thousands of pounds to help local families with seriously ill children. Thank you to everyone who came along!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone at PRO Nursing who has helped to make this happen, and to Santa, our wonderful volunteers who all gave up their time to help on the days we were open, and to the many many other people who also donated their time, services, and items which together created the magical environment. Without our volunteers, we simply wouldn’t have been able to hold this very special event.

In addition to the Spirit of Christmas Grotto, Momentum was the chosen charity for the ‘Winter Wander’ event on Wednesday 6 December. Local businesses lined the street as they sold products and refreshments as part of the annual event on Bridge Road. Momentum had a stall where we sold Christmas goodies and chatted to local people about the charity.

Wednesday 6 December was a super-busy day as there was also a Café Bridge event in support of Momentum! As always, the occasion had a fantastic turnout of players who all helped raise an incredible amount of money.

There are so many kind and generous people in our community and we are very grateful to every one of them. Merry Christmas to you all!