Trevena Cross welcomed more than 3,000 children when it reopened its Christmas grotto for the first time since Covid.
December saw thousands of people visit the garden centre at Breage, near Helston, for fully-booked sessions with Father Christmas.
Families were able to take a magical journey through a winter wonderland before getting to take part in a special encounter with Santa himself.
However, the garden centre said it wouldn’t have been possible to host the grotto without the support of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard.
As a thank you, the team at Trevena has now presented the Rotary club with £3,500 of the grotto proceeds, for their chosen local charities and causes.
Garden centre manager Nick Hann said: “We’re delighted to have been able to sprinkle some Christmas magic on the festive visits of families from across the county.
"It was particularly wonderful to see the reaction on children’s faces as they discovered Santa knew their name; and is so satisfying to know that we helped lots of local families create wonderful memories in the build up to Christmas.
"It was a huge team effort, from building the grotto through to seeing its purpose realised as families journeyed through the grotto to meet Santa.
"The Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard was an integral part of the experience for visitors, and we’re pleased to be able to contribute to their admirable annual charity fundraising efforts with a donation of £3,500 from the grotto proceeds. Huge thanks to them.”
President of the Helston-Lizard Rotary Club, Peter Mueller, said: “This was a fantastic effort by several of our members, providing a memorable Christmas experience for the children of our local community, particularly after a three-year post-pandemic gap.
"The kind donation by Trevena will prove a significant boost to the Club’s charitable work”.
The grotto ran across the first three weekends of December and for a few days in the week preceding Christmas.
It employed a pre-booking system for the first year, so visitors knew what time to expect their grotto experience.
Alongside the grotto, there were also lots of free festive photo opportunities, a snow machine and a 25 stall Christmas market at the weekends, which were open to all visitors.
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