Santa arrives at Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre in Skegness

Christmas has come early  at the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre in Skegness thanks to the generosity of the local community and businesses.

Transcript

00:00 We want centre! We want centre! We want centre!

00:07 Lisa, you've delivered the presents. This has all been really exciting for you, hasn't it?

00:13 It's been a wonderful evening. It's just overwhelming, absolutely overwhelming, the way we've been standing.

00:20 Now tell me about the appeal.

00:22 Well, the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre has been here for 135 years.

00:32 Unfortunately, very few people know that they're here.

00:36 And we're right on the main road going into Skegness.

00:40 So we decided it would be a really good idea this year to do something nice for someone in the community and raise awareness.

00:49 So we chose the Holiday Centre when you told me that they might possibly be having a special Christmas week for children.

00:59 So we have 14 children from the age of 6 to 11 years of age.

01:05 And yeah, it's been, the last six weeks have been a whirlwind, an absolute whirlwind.

01:12 Hi, my name is Ali and I'm the Centre Manager of the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre.

01:18 Now it's a really big week, isn't it, for the Holiday Centre?

01:22 Absolutely. We're bringing back 14 children that have been with us over the summer.

01:28 But we feel that another week would really, really give them that boost that they need in self-confidence.

01:35 And some of the children, you know, probably won't get a Christmas at home like this.

01:42 Now Santa's just arrived with a sleigh full of toys.

01:49 What will that mean to the children?

01:51 Oh, they'll think it's wonderful. They were so excited.

01:55 The Town Choir actually came in and gave them a little talk before and they were so excited when they went outside.

02:02 But for them, it'll be, you know, to them a present, a gift is lovely.

02:09 - Happy Valentine's Day!

02:11 (children cheering)