Grotto visitors raise more than £3,500 for three Rochdale charities

Lorenzo O’Reilly with Jean Spencer, Jackie Brooks Philip Foster and Barbara Lloyd

Shoppers have helped to raise more than £3,500 for three local charities after more than 900 children visited Santa’s Grotto at Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre.

Throughout December, parents and their children had the chance to meet Santa and his elves at  the shopping centre, whilst showing their support for Springhill Hospice, RSPCA Rochdale and Petrus.

Lorenzo O’Reilly, Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre manager, was absolutely delighted, he said. “We had a brilliant time at the centre during the Christmas period and everyone enjoyed meeting Santa and his elves at the Rochdale Exchange grotto.

“In 2015, we donated £3,400 from the grotto to Rochdale Children’s Moorland Home, so to end 2016 on a high, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to continue our support of local charities.”

In October, the centre invited shoppers to nominate an organisation to benefit from the grotto proceeds.

Mr O'Reilly explained: “Visitors were asked to vote for Springhill Hospice, RSPCA Rochdale or Petrus using the token system in the centre.

“Each charity received an amazing amount of votes, so much so that the grotto proceeds will be split between the three charities to ensure the Rochdale community really benefits from the money raised.

“Over the festive season, we had some amazing feedback from Rochdale families about how fantastic our grotto was, so we can’t wait to start planning for Christmas 2017.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who visited the grotto and made a donation to Springhill Hospice, RSPCA Rochdale and Petrus.”