Eastbourne woman creates Santa Workshop to bring a smile to faces this festive period
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Sharon Collins put together the workshop day at Shinewater Sports Centre on Saturday (December 17) featuring an experience with Santa, arts and crafts, gingerbread decorating, and food parcels. She said: “I’ve been playing Secret Santa with my neighbourhood over the last few years but I wanted to do something bigger this year. Because of the cost of living crisis, I knew families were going to struggle this year and because of Covid, children have had to grow up really quickly. I wanted to do something to help people and make them smile.”
Sharon approached Florence Piccinini at Making It Happen and shared her idea for the workshop. The idea got backing in the form of a £500 grant and it went from there. Sharon said: “Lots of people have come together to make this happen. I’ve thrown every bit of energy I have into this. If this takes off I’d love to get a team behind me for bigger things in the future.”
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Hide AdFlorence praised Sharon for her hard work. She said: “It’s really wonderful to see someone with the energy to give back to the community who really cares about people enjoying Christmas. She just wants Christmas to be a happy time for people and she’s done that.”
Eastbourne Area Panel (EAP) had a stand giving out food parcels and important items like gloves/hats/hot water bottles. EAP supplied three bags of food and the warm items. Andy Evans was on the stand. He said: “In these times you need organisations like us. These days are essential.”
Sharon gained a £450 from the EFP small grants programme which supplied the other food parcels.
River of Life Community Church was also there to give people a hot meal and drink. Since 2018 the church has been running a project called Make Lunch - giving free hot meals out to families on free school meals. Julie Smith, leader of the church, said days like this aren’t just important to offer people free food, but also tackle the issue of isolation. She said: “We need to get back our sense of community.”
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Hide AdThe fire service was also there to give out safety advice and let children see the fire engine up close. There was also a choir and a craft table. Ellie Carzana set up the Crafty Trees community group as she found everything to keep children entertained was so expensive. She said: “This brings some festive cheer and brings everyone together.”
Nadine Piper was in the choir singing carols. She said: “Well done to Sharon - she’s worked so hard, it’s such a privilege to help, and see children coming in and having fun. I think lots of people still feel isolated, but this shows people care and there is still a community out there.”
Father Christmas was also there and had two instructions for children for Christmas Eve - make sure rooms are tidy, and dirty clothes must be in the washing basket.
Leftover food and toys were donated to various places afterwards.