Generous visitors to an Aberdeen shopping centre have helped raise over £20,000 for a leading North-east cancer support charity by visiting its Santa’s Grotto over the festive period.
For the first time ever, all profit from the Bon Accord & St Nicholas Santa’s Grotto has gone directly to CLAN Cancer Support after the centre selected the charity as its nominated cause for the year.
Situated within the Bon Accord mall in the run-up to the big day itself, nearly 2,000 children passed through the grotto’s doors as the north-east public turned out in numbers to catch a glimpse of Santa alongside doing their bit for charity.
The phenomenal footfall figures for 2015’s grotto are a significant increase on last year’s attraction, equating to an 82% rise compared to the grotto in 2014. The total amount raised for CLAN is £22,673 which will be used by the charity in its provision of free support services to anyone affected by cancer throughout the north-east of Scotland, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.
Craig Stevenson, centre manager of Bon Accord & St Nicholas, said: “The 2015 Santa’s Grotto is most definitely the biggest and most popular yet and I’d like to say a massive thank you to each and every person who visited the attraction and helped contribute to this fantastic total that we’ve been able to handover to CLAN.
“CLAN itself was heavily involved with the planning and running of the grotto and I’d like to thank them for their efforts in helping make this such a success. We wanted to add something special to the centre at Christmas time and the feedback we’ve had from children and parents alike is that we managed to do just that. The footfall figures and the amount raised is testament to the thought and work that went in to the grotto as a whole.
“Adding something special to an individual’s shopping experience has been an integral part of our marketing activity throughout the last months so it is great to see things like the grotto have such a positive impact on the centre.”
Susan Crighton, CLAN’s fundraising manager, said: “The Santa’s Grotto was a fantastic attraction within the Bon Accord mall and I’d like to thank the Bon Accord & St Nicholas team for all it has done for CLAN throughout the last year.
“For all those who visited the grotto, whether you said hello to Santa, purchased a photo or even a key ring, your donation to CLAN is gratefully received by all associated with the charity and the money raised can make such a difference to someone that is currently affected by cancer.
“With the well-publicised economic downturn undoubtedly making fundraising slightly more challenging, to receive a donation of over £20,000 is really beyond our estimations and in many ways is a welcome Christmas present of our own as we head into 2016.”