Christmas Fair encourages children to donate gifts to charity

Angela and Thomas Williams with Father Christmas

St Gabriel and All The Angel’s Roman Catholic Church held their annual Christmas Fair and asked children to bring Father Christmas a present so children who will not receive a Christmas present this year can do so.

Billy Sheerin, organiser of the fair, said: “We told the children that Father Christmas has ran out of elves so he needs help getting presents for other children.”

Organisers received a positive reaction to the appeal and have said they would certainly do it again. “I think it is something we will do again because it has been very successful,” added Billy.

The fair, which has been running for over 50 years, was held to raise money for St Gabriel and All The Angel’s Church and included a variety of stalls such as bric-a-brac, toys and books. Games were also being played and included guess the birthday of the teddy and a tombola.

Billy said: “Parishioners of the church each run separate stalls and we always receive donations for the stalls.”

Organisers didn’t set a fund raising target for the fair but described this year's fair as busier than last year. “We don’t know how much we want to raise but it has certainly been successful and has been a lot busier than last year,” said Billy.

The fair was held at St Gabriel’s RC Primary School and helped to kick off Christmas for members of the local community.