Fochabers firefighters set to roll out the red carpet for Santa
Santa is set to pay a local fire station a visit soon in order to help raise cash for charity.
The on-call firefighter team at Fochabers fire station are getting ready to try a new way to raise some festive cash for local charities and good causes when they host a Santa’s grotto.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday December 12-14 will see the Man in Red take pride of place at the station to welcome local youngsters and hear their Christmas wishes.
It marks something of a departure from the team’s usual festive fundraising efforts, as Firefighter Stuart Gerrard reveals.
He said: “The last few years we’ve done street collections in Fochabers and the surrounding communities and then divided the money between local charities and good causes.
“When we’re doing the street collections we are, however, still on call and have to respond to emergencies. This means that we couldn’t always make it to every street we originally intended to visit and some kids ended up disappointed as a result.
“We thought we’d give the Santa’s grotto a try this year which allows parents and kids to come to Santa at a convenient time rather than risk missing us if we’re called out.
“As I said, this is something new for us and we’ll see how it works out. If it’s a success, we’ll look at doing it again.”
Santa will be handing out selection boxes to his young visitors, with some donated by Tesco and others purchased by the firefighters from the Spar in Mosstodloch.
The grotto will be open at the following times: Thursday, December 12 - 6pm-8pm; Friday, December 13 - 6pm-8pm; Saturday, December 14 - 1pm-5pm.
Last year, thanks to a generous response from local communities, the firefighters raised £1300 for charity.
