Every child wants to visit Santa before Christmas but with some businesses charging €25+ per child, many families simply can’t afford the expense at this costly time of year.
Christmas is not just an opportunity to make money, and every child deserves to feel like they are included and that Santa cares about them—this was the thinking behind a new community event held in the Butler Community Centre on December 6 last.
What started as a small idea to have Santa visits for families who couldn’t afford the alternative, developed into a major event which saw neighbours, businesses, the fire brigade, Gardaí, and more pull together to deliver a memorable day for local families ahead of Christmas.
The Munster Express spoke to Amy McGuire, facilitator at the Butler Community Centre, and organiser of the visit Santa event.
“It all started when we realised that lots of families can’t afford to see Santa, and I thought well we can’t be having that. And when I say I knocked on doors, I went to businesses big and small. It just took off, it was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen,” said Amy.
“All decorations on the day, from baubles to trees and everything in between, was provided free of charge by neighbours and local businesses. John and Jane Nolan bought the inflatables, SoulSong Gospel Choir sang in hall as kids got their presents, Old Farm provided the Christmas trees, BigBear, who are part of Eventbrite, decorated and set up the stage for us, Clem Jacob provided the heating, and many more,” she said.
“Local businesses provided sport prizes and The Mansion House made a financial donation, it was amazing.”
Amy also made special mention of Pamela and Dean from John’s Perk Coffee who sold the tickets, supplied the hot chocolate and gingerbreads, and put a lot of effort into the preparation of the hall.
So successful were the fundraising efforts, that some of the money generated from raffle tickets was not needed on the day. The raffle was live streamed on Monday last and the surplus funds were donated to Waterford River Rescue, whose volunteers provide suicide watch along the River Suir.
“In the end there were 100-120 children,” said Amy. “They all got to visit Santa and get a selection box, nobody was left disappointed. The Garda liaison officer came along, the fire brigade let the children sit in the fire truck, they turned on the sirens.
“The fire brigade were so accommodating. There was even a seven-year-old boy who is non-verbal and had severe ASD, he was getting overwhelmed by all the noise so the fire brigade made a point of putting him into the truck when everything had calmed down.
“He didn’t want to get out in the end but they put no rush on him, he was in there for about 30 minutes.”
Having organised the entire day in less than two weeks, Amy said her voice is gone. The event also held a personal meaning to her after her uncle, John McWilliams, passed away in September.
“John McWilliams, my uncle, was the tree-man in the Butler centre for the last 10 or 15 years, there’s people always asking for him. When we were cleaning out his apartment we found lots of gonks, the little gnomes. The kids used to come up to Butler’s and he would play with them and make them believe they had magical powers,” said Amy.
“So I filled Santa’s grotto with the gonks for him. He only passed away in September, but his spirit was very important to the day. That’s another reasons why it was personal for me to pull it off.”
After such a success, Amy is not intending this to be a once-off event. She explained that this is just one of the ideas to bring the community back into The Butler Community Centre, and with larger businesses committing to offering their support in January when decisions about charity donations tend to be made, this could be the beginning of something lasting, delivered for the community and by the community.
Funded by The Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
