Forestry Commission Wales education officer Ross Evans pulled out all the stops to rescue a primary school’s Christmas treat when Father Christmas was forced to cancel a date – because of too much snow!
The nursery children from Our Lady’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Mountain Ash were due to meet Santa at the FC Wales centre at Garwnant, 15 miles outside Merthyr Tydfil, where a week of woodland visits was planned for local children.
But when heavy snowfall forced the visits to be called off, Woodlands for Learning (WfL) team member Ross swept into action and arranged for Santa to visit the school instead.
Ross said, “I was determined to do all that I could to ensure the children met Santa, and the look on their faces when he turned up at the school made all the effort worthwhile.”
Teacher Frances Lewis said the school was really grateful to Forestry Commission Wales for arranging for Santa to visit the school.
She said, “The children were thrilled to see Santa coming to them after their visit had to be cancelled due to poor weather.”
Before leaving, Santa made sure every child received a goodie bag to take home.
Meanwhile, hundreds of children from primary schools in Bridgend enjoyed some festive frollicks at Bryngarw Country Park after a series of woodland visits arranged by the WfL team in partnership with Bridgend Council rangers beat the snow and ice.
The children searched for Rudolf along a magical activity trail through the woodland before receiving a goodie bag from Santa in his grotto.
Education officer Karen Clarke said, “It was wonderful to see Santa meet so many children and warm us up with some Christmas cheer!”
Woodlands provide a stimulating outdoor learning environment and the FC Wales WfL team stages Christmas visits throughout Wales every year as a means of showing children life in the woods during the winter.
