Santa will be at his Grotto on the first floor of Asda, to launch the Charity Christmas Appeal by the Rotary Club of Harrogate Brigantes on Friday 12th December from 11:00am.
The Mayor of Harrogate, Councillor Jim Clark, and Mayoress, Councillor Shirley Fawcett, will be dropping in on Saturday 13th at 2:30 to meet with Santa and view all the Festive activities at Asda including choirs, bands and Young Enterprise stalls.
Santa said: I hope that as many children as possible will come and visit me in my wonderful grotto on the first floor of Asda in Harrogate. I shall be there between 10.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. each day until Tuesday 23rd December (when I have to leave to start loading the sleigh for the Christmas run!)
In the last eighteen years, the Rotary Club of Harrogate Brigantes Christmas Appeal has raised over £80,000 which has been used to support a wide range of charities.
The President of Rotary Club of Harrogate Brigantes, Peter Wood, says ‘We are so grateful for the generous support given to us over the years by Asda and their customers. We hope that this will continue even in these difficult times and so enable us to help these very worthy charities. I should also like to thank Asda Harrogate for their help and contribution in enabling us to run our appeal once again.’
This year the key beneficiaries are the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the Dementia Forward
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance Fundraising Manager, Tony Doveston, said: We are delighted that Brigantes has again decided to raise funds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) at the ASDA Grotto. To date, YAA has carried over 5843 patients to hospitals across Yorkshire since 25th October 2000.
Although our paramedics are funded by Yorkshire Ambulance Service, YAA receives no Government funding so each day we require £9990, to fund 2 helicopters which provide a life-saving rapid response emergency service to 5 million people across Yorkshire.
We fly seven days a week, 365 days a year, covering a vast landscape that not only includes major cities and motor ways, but also rural and isolated locations. Best wishes to all at Brigantes in its fundraising efforts for us and for all its other chosen charities.’
Dementia Forward is a ‘local for local’ charity. It supports people living with dementia and their family carers through a range of services. Support is provided through a local Help line, trained Dementia Support Advisors, home visits and a range of weekly social and wellbeing activities. Dementia Forward relies on the generosity of local support for volunteers and funding.
Jill Quinn C E O of the local Dementia Forward group said: We are extremely grateful for the support of the local community and of Brigantes’ Rotary Club to enable us to raise the profile of this lesser known charity.
