Santa's grotto..

[Curmudgeon]

Kids Company are an amazing charity and I have been fortunate enough to work closely with some of their extremely committed staff who really do reach out and make a practical difference to children's lives.

Really worth supporting and I love their Christmas list at John Lewis idea

[esme]

The Nappy Lady Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> What annoys me is that they could charge

> considerably less & still (im sure) make plenty of

> money. It is just plain greed.

>

> Like Lapland UK who also charge a huge amount for

> a family if 4.

>

> These companies are cashing in on Christmas &

> getting way too greedy. Think about how many

> people per hour thru plan to have passing through,

> over however many days they are there, less

> whatever rent they are paying. Just short of ?50

> per family. Raking it in. Reindeer feed must be

> very expensive!!

>

> Vote with your feet people!

Couldn't agree more Molly, I think this is too pricey and that they could get people through the door in droves by charging a bit less. Reckon they will still get loads going tho, I have a few friends willing to pay for "real" reindeer viewing :)

[minder]

Yes esme I imagine the reindeer are lovely and I've personally heard they are!

Talking about the price of the Santa's grotto...

I've seen the board up outside DHJS about Xmas trees. ?30 for a Xmas tree?

[curlykaren]

?30?, about right really,

http://christmastree-farm.co.uk/Prices.html

[minder]

That's my point - people are prepared to pay ?30 for a Christmas tree which will then be thrown out after a couple of weeks?

Think I'll stick to the one I've had for the past 20 years!

[bonacara]

haven't got time to read whole post , just wanted to mention we went to Santa's Grotto at Westfield Stratford, it cost ?3 each and it was really worth it, they did such a good job on the 5D movie and the decor was stunning, Santa talked to each kid personally and they all got presents, plus you can buy a pic of your LO with Santa for ?6. we all loved it. check out the link here: http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/news-and-events/santas-grotto/

[minder]

Hope all the Santa's grottos went well!

Just to say I've supported the Santa's grotto at Dulwich Park as my 16 year daughter was actually one of the elves, along with some of her friends from the local 6th form college. This is part of their community service contribution for their exams.

They've worked voluntarily for the past 4 Sundays from 10am-4pm and Whippersnappers kindly agreed for them to do this.

Other students volunteered in charity shops, etc.

Daughter had a very busy time with the children, reindeer, decorating a gingerbread man, waiting to see santa claus but her and friends know how to keep young children amused.

[buggie]

Ooo - we might've seen your daughter last Sunday - we went & really enjoyed it - thought all the elfs/helpers were all fab (especially the 2 young elfs helping with the gingerbread men who were both very good with Bugglet). Yes it was more than a shopping centre Santa, but there was far more going on - Bugglet surprised us by being very clear on her instructions to the face painter (pink heart on her forearm!) and when the time came to meet the big man himself she got over her shyness & high five'd him several times :)

Would be v interested in going again if it returned next year.