SANTA will be swapping his sleigh for a laptop and selecting a snowy background this year as he prepares to do Zoom calls for Children’s Hospice South West.
The charity says that visiting a grotto during a pandemic probably isn’t a good idea. After secret discussions with Santa’s elves, they are now delighted to announce that parents, grandparents, families, friends and godparents will be able to arrange either a live session, or a pre-recorded, special message from Father Christmas safely in the comfort of their own homes.
Santa sessions are currently available over the weekends from November 28 and 29 and mid-week from December 21-24, with more weekday sessions planned earlier in December if demand is high.
For every Santa session booked, a 10% donation will go to Children’s Hospice South West, supporting their hospice care for children with life-limiting conditions and their whole family.
The virtual grotto will be brought to children who attend the hospice for free.
The Children’s Hospice South West team generally provides respite and short breaks, emergency care, palliative care and end of life care at three wonderful children’s hospices; Little Bridge House in Devon, Charlton Farm in Somerset and Little Harbour in Cornwall. However, this year, they have extended their programme into the provision of invaluable ‘hospice, home and virtual’ care for some 500 children and their surrounding families.
Kiley Pearce, Events Fundraiser for Children’s Hospice South West said, “We’re delighted that our children across all of our hospice operations are set to benefit with the generous donations that every Santa Zoom visit will bring. These donations are even more vital this year, and we’re also delighted that all of the children under the care of our Little Harbour Hospice in Cornwall will be getting a complimentary Zoom visit as a result of the generosity of this campaign.”
All people need to do to book a virtual Santa session is log onto the Virtual Santa website at www.thevirtualsanta.co.uk - and follow the easy steps to book a guaranteed, personal, live time slot for their child/children on a confirmed date and at a confirmed time with Santa at his home at the North Pole.
Alternatively, they can book a personalised message for their child or children that can be played time and time again. 10% from every booking made will go to the Children’s Hospice South West and up to 100 children from Little Harbour will also be gifted a personal Santa Zoom session or a personalised message as a result of the partnership campaign with Virtual Santa.