Children of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington were delighted to see Father Christmas and his elves as he arrived with a Cargiant sleigh full of presents on Thursday.
Cargiant’s Christmas charity team dressed in their finest elves and reindeer costumes packed themselves into the Cargiant bus and, along with the infectious energy of Vince Urso-Bairda a.k.a. Father Christmas, headed down the A40 greeting unsuspecting pedestrians along the way.
St Mary’s Hospital has always had a special place in our hearts, over the last four years, we’ve visited the Children of St Mary’s Intensive Care Unit (COSMIC).
Last month around 150 gifts, worth about £3,000, were taken from a disused ward at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, central London.
The presents were due to be given out at a Christmas party. With this in mind, we were determined this year to make our visit extra special.
Leading the team, Cargiant’s Chief Elf coincidentally was born at St Mary’s Hospital.
Our visit was deemed a giant success but wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the staff at the hospital. Tina Halton, the hospital’s Play Specialist was delighted with the impact Father Christmas had on the children, “This is the last place you want to be during this time of the year. Having Santa visit the children in the A&E is definitely going to lift the children’s spirits”.
The children’s spirits were certainly on a high as soon as they saw Santa and his elves appear with all the bags of presents. Ali, aged 7 could not contain his excitement and shared a festive dance with Santa.
Our visit to St Mary’s will definitely be one of the highlights of our year, spreading joy and seeing the impact of giving on all the young people at the Hospital was such a rewarding experience.
If you wish to support COSMIC visit their Money Giving Page http://ow.ly/oxaa306WvbF
And if you’d like to see our previous blog about St Mary’s Hospital: http://ow.ly/r6H5307brE4