Father Christmas Tours of Loddon Valley
Each year, Father Christmas and his elves tour the Loddon Valley Lions area, bringing joy to children young and old! The tours usually commence around the 1st December 
and continue through to 23rd December (excluding Sundays).
Tours normally commence:
- 6:15pm Mondays to Thursdays
- 5:45pm Fridays
- 4:15pm Saturdays
and continue through until about 9pm each evening.
We will deliver leaflets to around 14,000 homes in our area, setting out the tour programme. The leaflet will also contain a Childrens' Colouring Competition and further copies of this can be downloaded from this site from about mid November onwards.
To see the winning pictures from the 2011 Tours, please Click Here.
During his tours, Father Christmas is always keen to collect any unused spectacles and hearing aids you may have, so please save these up during the year and hand them to Father Christmas during his tours. The spectacles are refurbished at a factory in Le Havre which is wholly owned by the Lions Clubs of France. Following refurbishment, the spectacles are distributed by Lions in countries of the developing world, where the cost of such items is often beyond the financial reach of many people. Thus, through this project many people are able to enjoy the gift of near normal vision, who would not otherwise have had such an opportunity. The hearing aids are refurbished in this country and, similarly distributed by Lions in countries of the developing world.
Christmas 2011
Father Christmas managed to complete all of his tours during the 2011 Christmas period without too many problems. This time, he was not thwarted by the snow, which had caused some cancellations and curtailments the previous two years, although he did encounter rain of monsoon proportions on a couple of evenings.
His visits commenced on Friday 25th November with the Tadley Christmas Lights switch on, where he was kept extremely busy in his grotto learning about all the things he was going to have to deliver a month later. The following Sunday, he was at the Silchester Christmas Bazaar and Lights Switch on on his Sleigh, where he encountered one or two 'imposters' to the dismay and confusion of some of the children present. So keenly was his visit awaited in Sherborne St John, that he was on the front cover of their Villager Magazine.
The tours of the area served by Loddon Valley Lions commenced on Wednesday 30th November and continued through until Friday 23rd December. During that time, Father Christmas dispensed several hundred lollipops to his loyal supporters and received many entries for the CHILDRENS COLOURING COMPETITION. The results of this competition can be seen by Clicking Here.
Father Christmas added one or two new locations to his tours this time. Of particular note was the new development of Kirby Drive at Bramley Green, where he was welcomed with open arms and absolutely besieged by children. Regrettably, during the time available, he was unable to get everywhere in our area, but we do hope everywhere was properly covered on Christmas Eve, once all the children were tucked up in bed and fast asleep!
Our Thanks:
Father Christmas and Loddon Valley Lions would like to thank the public for the many donations received from them, which were around £10,100. This helped us to bring a little Christmas Cheer into the lives of those who were disadvantaged, elderly, young or sick at this special time of the year.
Father Christmas and Loddon Valley Lions also thank the public for the many donations of used spectacles and hearing aids that he and Rudolf received. These will be refurbished and used to bring the gift of sight and hearing to many in the developing world, for whom such ‘luxuries' would be beyond financial reach.
Finally, our sincere thanks to Elm Park Garden Centre, Pamber End, who donated some of the decorations used on our Float. Click Here For More Information
