Social events

Age UK Herne Bay and Whitstable would like to thank the community for supporting their first ever event, Santa’s Christmas Workshop and Market. This was held on Sunday 1st December 10-4pm at Age UK Herne Bay and Whitstable, 16 Reculver Road, Herne Bay, CT6 6LE.

The event had two parts a Christmas Market and a Christmas Workshop with Santa. Both parts were well attended and saw lots of smiling happy faces whilst helping to bring the Christmas spirit to the local Herne Bay Community.

Santa’s Christmas Workshop was a fantastic success and saw nearly 70 children attend the hour and half long activity which ended with a visit to Santa in his newly decorated Grotto. Along the way the children and their guardians got to participate in 5 activities, they were greeted by cheeky elves who helped them decorate their gift box, paint a Plaster of Paris Christmas decoration, decorate a gingerbread man and write their letter to Santa. The Children then had a story with Mrs Claus, and then waited in the activity and selfie area before visiting Santa. They got to post their letters in Santas special post box and received a small gift from him. We also had the Grinch in attendance for the whole day, up to mischief in both Santas Christmas Workshop and the Christmas market.

The local fire brigade turned up to the event so that the children (along with the grinch) could sit in the fire engine, Local Café Gingerbreads and Premier Bar Runners provided hot food and mulled wine, along with local businesses and crafters. Christmas Music was playing in the background, but there was also a live band The Sinus Rhythm Boys and a magician. This also ran alongside various activities for the whole family to enjoy, including name the reindeer, guess the weight of the Christmas cake, roll a dice, higher/lower, splat the rat, a tombola and the Christmas big raffle. The Raffle tickets are on sale until 16 th December so please contact Age UK Herne Bay and Whitstable reception on 01227 749570 or drop into the centre to buy some tickets.

They managed to raise over £2000 for Age UK Herne Bay and Whitstable, which will go towards helping to run this much needed centre for the older community of Herne Bay and Whitstable. This would not have been possible without the help of the lovely team of staff, volunteers, and community supporters, whether you donated items or came along and attended. A big thank you to Gingerbreads Café, Baytastic Events and Painttastic for donating the materials for the Santa’s Workshop.

The most special part of the day was seeing new people welcomed into their centre at Age UK Herne Bay and Whitstable, them meeting parents and Grandparents who might have been unaware of them, showcasing their lovely building, meeting some of the team and getting access to information about the different services they offer and how they can support people.

Age UK Herne Bay and Whitstable have lots more events planned alongside all their existing community groups and drop ins, please contact them to find out more information on 01227 749570 or contacts@ageukhbw.org.uk.