Trevena Cross Nurseries near Helston has made plenty of children smile in the run up to Christmas with its magical Santa’s Grotto.

But it’s not just children smiling this Christmas, as all proceeds raised from visits to Father Christmas, during the three big Christmas weekends are going to two wonderful local charities.

With support from the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, the nursery has raised £3,320 for the Cornwall Air Ambulance and Cornwall Leukaemia Trust.

Trevena Cross owner Graham Jeffery said: "We built on last year’s successful Christmas weekends to make this year’s even bigger and better. We built a brand new grotto from scratch, and the team worked really hard to make sure that it would be a truly magical experience for the whole family.

"We invested in real wow factor with our giant polar bear - a great photo opportunity - and our entertaining talking owl, Oggy. With extra touches, including plenty of snow, bubbles, chocolates and fabulous lights, we seemed to find the recipe for success.

"It is really satisfying to know that we have helped lots of local families create wonderful memories in the build up to Christmas, but even more satisfying to be able to give two wonderfully worthy Cornish charities £1,660 a piece, thanks to the support of all our grotto visitors. It makes the many hours of hard work, beforehand and during the event, completely worthwhile.

"A big thanks to the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, without whom, it wouldn’t all have been possible."