We were feeling very festive this evening as we got to help decorate Santa’s grotto. Some of the team counted out presents that Santa has had delivered early (well you know what the post is like come Christmas!). Others started off by assembling one of the Christmas trees which took a lot of fluffing! Abby was in charge of making sure we all kept to the aesthetic which was apparently red and gold. In the final moments though someone decided a purple bauble must also adorn the tree! We can’t wait for all the visitors to see the finished grotto soon. It’s Chrissssssssstmasssss!!

The Fratton Together Lantern Parade brought the usual chaos, creativity and carnival vibes this year!

After attaching lights and sticks to the lanterns, we prepared ourselves for the tidal wave of local residents arriving to claim their makes for the parade. As usual, the best laid plans for lantern distribution went awry, but we were able to reunite most lanterns with their makers ahead of the parade.

We enjoyed the samba beats of batala as we paraded through Fratton. Dave found a creative way to get around his lantern not having a stick - check out the photos! Whilst carrying some larger lanterns, we were able to marshal the parade safely from start to finish. After enjoying our complimentary cups of tea, we did an extra bit of GoodGyming, carrying lanterns that were too big for cars and vans back to the Pantry.

It’s that time of year again already!! We started Rose Road getting ready for their Christmas fair and were very busy elves packing gift bags from Santa. We got them packed very quickly and then had to do some rearranging to make sure there were the right mix of goodies in the final bags. We then had enough time to sort through the Christmas decorations and remove any broken ones and untangle the Christmas lights! And finally we sorted through items to be sold at Winchester Christmas markets by the fundraising team. As always we had lots of fun and are excited for the festivities next month when we will be back to support at the Christmas fair.