Behind the scenes at Action Duchenne’s Santa’s Grotto

This time last year, I was proudly clicking ‘share’ on the impact report for our 2020 Christmas Campaign. We’d sprinkled a touch of magic at a time when it was not safe or possible for Duchenne families to meet Father Christmas in person. And it was a huge success!?

I knew, this year, that we simply HAD to make it happen again.?

Funding the fun

And that’s where the Sporting Bears stepped in. One of our brilliant volunteers, Jess, who’s daughter is a manifesting carrier of Duchenne, recommended us to receive funding from this wonderful organisation. In November at their classic car event in the NEC, Jess helped the Sporting Bears raise enough money to deliver our Santa’s Grotto project from start to finish. It was my privilege to make sure the whole project ran smoothly; from organising and filling Santa’s Grotto with scores of smiles, to giving each family a gift to help them celebrate the festivities.?

Finding the right Santa

It was surprisingly harder than I expected to find the ‘right’ Santa (obviously the REAL ONE!). But eventually, after doing lots of research, I found ‘Your Virtual Santa’ and knew we had found the right fit. The team were keen to get as much information from the families as possible, to equip Santa with really important information, such as; what pets the family have, what the children’s hobbies are and any recent achievements the Big Man could mention! They made it extremely easy for me to organise the event, and we decided on holding 10 sessions in one afternoon, each lasting 30 minutes, for up to 5 families per session (plus Grandparents and extended family!).?

As soon as I put the invitation out on social media for families to take part, the registrations came flooding in! It was wonderful to read all about the families we care so much about, to hear about how the children and young people are getting on.? To know that I’d be online with them soon, joining them in the grotto filled me with pride and anticipation for the 17th December!

Grotto Day!

I was fortunate enough to have booked an early slot with Father Christmas for my own family to take part straight after the schools broke up for Christmas. My parents in Kent joined us online to watch the children and they were grinning ear to ear to see us all gathered around the computer, excited to see Santa. The session was magical, we were welcomed into the grotto by one of the Elves, and then we watched the reindeers herding across the snow. But wait…. Who’s that?... Can you hear something?.... It’s SANTA!?

The littler children Samson (9) and Rosie (4) squealed with excitement when they heard the legendary, “Ho Ho Ho!” and even the bigger one Leo (12) waved and got into the spirit of it!

Santa magically knew all about us, about our cats, about us not seeing Nana and Grandad for a while because Grandad’s been poorly, about Samson’s brilliant swimming, and Rosie’s dancing. Santa even knew about Leo doing well at secondary school, which brought a tear to my eye to see how proud of his achievement he was. Santa read us a story (Stick Man - one of our favourites) and it was such a precious time to spend together as a family.

Our session was the perfect way to start the Christmas holidays! And the day was far from over!

Magic for 120 people

I had a further 8 sessions ahead of me to enjoy, and it was utterly wonderful! Running from 1pm to 7pm, Santa, the Elf and I were joined by 32 families across the UK. Watching the childrens’ faces light up was magical! One young person, in particular, was a little shy to begin with, but Santa asked him lots of questions, gave him time to respond and really brought him out of his shell. It was lovely to see and made me instantly feel the ‘why’ - the reason the work we do here at Action Duchenne is so important.?

The 'why'

At the end of the sessions, once we sent out the special gifts to each family, I felt content, but also a bit sad that it was over. Days like that are so important to me, to remind me the importance of family, maintaining a balance between work and home, but also the impact of our support on Duchenne families.?

We started to receive the feedback from families who attended the Grotto and it blew me away. I am so proud to bring Christmas to our Duchenne families, and I’ll do everything I can to make it happen again next year!?

If your organisation or company would like to help ignite our Christmas Support Project 2022, please get in touch [email protected] .

I hope you enjoy looking at a small selection of the feedback below!?

Take care x Lynnette