When I saw that Weldmar Hospicecare were looking for Christmas Elves for their Grotto I just knew I had to do it!

Weldmar Hospicecare is a charity in Dorset providing end of life care for local people who need specialist support.  They support patients and their families, medically and in other ways, in the community, in the hospice and in the home.  As an independent charity only working in Dorset, 25% of funds are provided by the NHS and a whopping 75% of funds are raised by supporters and the local community.  All care is free and so they are hugely reliant on public donations and supporters.

Every year during the festive season there are a great group of volunteers who give up their time to decorate and run a beautiful Grotto in Poundbury Garden Centre.  When I arrived I was kitted out with my elf outfit and introduced to Father Christmas and his helpers.  There was a very good organised system in place and colouring in on the tables so any children waiting could occupy themselves. I spent most of my time welcoming children to the Grotto and what a pleasure it was.  Kids immediately LOVE an elf and I took my role pretty seriously asking their names, age and Christmas present wish.  When it was their turn to see the lovely Father Christma they were led in to the Grotto where he would spend some time chatting to the child before giving them an age appropritae gift to take home.

At the end of the shift my husband arrived with the children who gave me a strange look.  Mummy is normally in jeans and a jumper but they all agreed I looked better as an elf haha.

If you want to do something really great for Christmas then I’d highly recommend you volunteer.  I came out on a high and know all the children who visited enjoyed themselves.

If you would like to read more about this great charity including other volunteering opportunities and fundraising events then please visit the Weldmar Hospicecare Website. 

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Going to see a pantomime around Christmas time has become one of our most favourite family traditions and yet again the Weymouth Panto didn’t disappoint.

Dick Whittington is everything a panto should be with a talented cast, glitzy and outrageous costumes, toe-tapping songs, audience participation and side splitting gags. 

The rags to riches story starts in London Town where we meet Dick and learn all about the infestation of giant rats.  Alice and her Dad have also recently travelled to London and with Dick’s new friend, Alan the cat, they hatch a plan to rid the infestation.  Of course every panto has to have a baddie and the evil Queen Rat does her very best to ruin everyone’s plans whilst the lovely Fairy is one step ahead.  The story takes them on a big adventure full of songs, jokes and dancing before the good guys save the day and live happily ever after.

This years Dame is played by Chay Aton and he does a brilliant job as Sarah the Cook.  He had us all in stitches throughout the show and wore the most bonkers costumes I’ve seen to date including a bikini costume and a tub of popcorn!  We were thrilled to see that Gwynfren West was back for another year and this time he was playing Idle Jack.  Gwynfren rarely needs to say anything and he has us laughing already and the scenes with him and Sarah the Cook will have you in hysterics.  

I find it very difficult to write about a show like this as I want to mention all the funny scenes but surely it ruins it for the reader?  One of the things I enjoy the most is not knowing what will happen next but I will say that my favourite scenes involved pudding, a wonky galley and a difficult translation between the Scottish and Welsh actors.

I'd thoroughly recommend you take the family as it’s hilariously funny, hugely entertaining and fabulously festive.  After the show I asked my 6 year old son what he thought of it and he said it was the best one he’d seen.  

Dick Whittington is on at the Weymouth Pavilion until Saturday 5 January 2019.  For dates and times including the grown ups only night and a muck up matinee, please visit the Weymouth Pavilion website.

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