It Was A Very Merry Christmas At Moor Pool Hall!
Well as the song says, ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year.’ Of course, at Moor Pool Hall Christmas is always celebrated with lots of joy, excitement and sparkle. Preparations for the big Christmas weekend start early here with all our elf volunteers working their hearts out to get everything ready. Never forgetting our mantra, ‘community matters – community is at the heart of all we do.’
From diary synching with Santa, elf supervisor, jingle bells jangler, reindeer handler, sleigh safety checker, air traffic control coordinator, reindeer risk assessor, principal present picker, Santa’s personal assistant, wintery wardrobe master. Snow safety supervisor, mince pie maker, tree decorator, present wrapper, elf engagement officer, Christmas craft coordinator, grotto manager, Christmas lights controller, Santa security, chief ribbon curler, seasonal sellotape dispenser, magical music maestro and merriment manager… Phew! Believe us when we tell you that was an email thread and-a-half!
But when you work together as a team, great things happen and the Christmas sleigh ride around the estate, along with the Christmas grotto are lovely traditions Moor Pool has embraced for years knowing that people are always at the heart of what the Trust does.
The sleigh ride started outside the hall and travelled round the estate playing festive tunes followed by lots of excited children and parents.
As always, an army of dedicated elves, led by head Elf Jill, (big shout out to Jill) an elf with a flair for Lapland logistics, a valuable skill set she brought to the assistance with the Moorpool sleigh ride route and worked her magic when some elves were incapacitated through hammer mishaps…, egg nogg overload and elf on the shelf tumbles. Jill headed the two-hour jolly jaunt jingling around Moor Pool estate followed by well over 100 people, dancing and singing and jingling sleigh bells, flying in the face of the cold and following Santa’s sleigh from beginning to end.
Encouraged by our very best awardwinning jingle bells shaker, Sofia, aged three – we’re a dedicated lot here on the estate. The sleigh ride finished where it started outside the hall, with a lot of, ‘Ho ho ho’s’ and cheers for Santa and the elves and their dedication to giving everyone a fun time.
But it didn’t stop there. After some well-earned mince pies, a small sherry and a good sleep Santa and the elves were back at Moor Pool Hall to see all the children that wanted to visit him the very next day.
We had to give a huge cheer to all the elves and of course Father Christmas whose organization and commitment to making the grotto so fun, so festive and so fantastic was second to none. A small army of volunteers worked so hard ensuring every bauble was secure, every fairy light worked, and every Christmas wish was heard. And just to celebrate their hard work here is an Elfie- Selfie! But not all elves are seen here, many more elves were busy present wrapping, baking, tea-making and on grotto duty.
We also had our, ‘naughty and nice list. We know which one we’re on – but which are you on?
All of Santa’s helpers, led the children and their parents from the excited queue to the grotto, where every child got a chat with Santa and let him know what they wanted for Christmas. And for us,
here at Moor Pool we believe in the magic of learning, so every present given to each child was a book to read and enjoy again and again.
After their visit to Santa some children even settled themselves down in the hall to read their books, it was a lovley site to behold.
For other children their was the Christmas craft table where elves had given the children a variety of simple and fun Christmas craft to enjoy, a melted snowman, (from Florida),
Father Christmas with his curly beard, a tissue paper tree, Rudolph and is super red nose, a sparkly circley hanging decoration, a cut out Christmas tree, a colouring table and wordsearch.
All supervised by Elf Jane, (aka OBI One Kenobi) the craft Jedi Master and her willing apprentice, Ruby, (eleven) our Next Gen volunteer, (channeling Luke Skywalker).
What was left was lots of happy faces, covered in glitter, post it notes and PVA glue leaving the Christmas craft carnage behind. And our Christmas gift to all the parents – they didn’t have to clean it up. Win, win!
And as the children skipped home with their craft decorations, we know that in years to come, the children will decorate their Christmas tree and remember, ‘oh wow there’s the melted snowman from Florida we made at Moor Pool all those years ago, remember the lovely Christmas story book I was given and remember all the wonderful elves and the magical grotto and Father Christmas!’
Because, after all Christmas is about making memories and we’d like to think that Moor Pool Hall and all the dedicated volunteers added a little bit of magic and some special memories to your Christmas – because at Christmas you can never have enough sparkle!
Moor Pool Hall would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone that helped make the Moor Pool Christmas weekend happen.
