Bluebell Railway 'Santa Special'

On Tuesday 19th December 2009 Golden Lion Children’s Trust were able to invite almost 250children and staff from nine special needs school in Sussex to enjoy a morning on the Bluebell Railway Santa Special thanks to the kindness of one particular Lewes Rotary Club.

Alan Jackson very kindly nominated the GLCT as the President’s charity during the year that he held office – and he and his fellow Rotarians raised the funds to pay for this project. We were delighted that Alan could join us for the event and see for himself the fun everyone had.

Helpers with the project included staff from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Gatwick office; Ashdown Park hotel, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service as well as regular Friends of the GLCT. Guests were entertained by a clown, an accordionist, magicians and hand-painters while waiting for Santa himself to walk through the train giving presents to each child.

One class teacher summed up the visit by describing it as 'a truly magical experience’ ......... and that is just what the GLCT believe it should be!

A trip to remember

An invitation from PricewaterhouseCoopers to travel to the Peacock Theatre, London and watch their own company‟s pantomime society production of "Sleeping Beauty‟ was met with great delight. On 30th January, when other people may have forgotten about Christmas, 52 GLCT guests boarded the Turbostyle coach with much excitement, and headed for an evening at the theatre. What great fun. We were looked after so well throughout our visit by Susan Persaud and her team from PwC. The hospitality was terrific, and the gifts of chocolates and drinks were much appreciated. The fantastic performance was a great treat, and the GLCT corner were reliably vocal when required throughout the production. More excitement followed when the children had the opportunity to meet cast members and collect autographs (a special page giving space in the programmes for these was an extra bonus for the children). So much fun was had on the coach journey home, with everyone comparing autographs – thrilled to count who had the most, and groaning disappointedly if they had missed meeting a favourite character from the pantomime.

Another brilliant event for everyone, summed up by one Mum who wrote afterwards:

“Going all the way to London was exciting enough for the children – London at night with all the beautiful lights. ........ A brilliant time was had by so many children and adults alike. It was greatly appreciated.”

Thank you to Graham Lambert and all PricewaterhouseCoopers‟ staff involved in making such an evening possible for some very special children, most of whom had never enjoyed a trip to London, or in many cases, had not been to live theatre before.