Thomas and Santa had many hours of fun touring Faringdon and the local villages through December. Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello, to chat with Santa or wave at Thomas. It was great to see so many people, even when it was cold and raining. Of course not every child has the confidence to chat with Santa, but many did want to share their stories and to assure him that they had been well behaved all year. Others preferred to say hello to Thomas and for some of the outings children were allowed to climb onto Thomas to ring the bell.
We were collecting for the Faringdon Food Bank and Faringdon Open Kitchen. We are able to give a donation of £600 to each of them and we are delighted to continue our support of these two groups, both of which provide a valuable service to our community.
Thanks to everyone who carried, dragged and drove their old Christmas trees to our collection points in Shrivenham, Clanfield and Faringdon on Saturday 6th January. It was great to see so many people and to save so many journeys by car to the council tips. Huge thanks to Andrew Liddiard without whom this would not be possible. He provided the trailer for Faringdon and has taken all the trees for chipping and use on his farm just outside Faringdon. So all staying local and an environmentally friendly end to our trees. Thanks also to Jag Trees for cutting down the large tree in Faringdon Market Square and to Miles for pulling out the stump in Faringdon and lending us a trailer for Clanfield.
In Clanfield we collected for the Guidance Service at the The Pump House Project and at the other two locations we encouraged people to visit our website later in the day to make a donation. Based on these collections we are able to give a donation of £1,000 to the Guidance Service.
