Published on Thursday, 9 December 2021 at 1:00:00 PM
Who can believe we are already in December? 'Tis the Season! As we draw closer to Christmas we wanted to share with you the holiday spirit of one community member, Sue Matts Thompson (Bridgetown for Free) who recently organized the Kids Christmas Tree Event.
In her own goodwill and with help from other likeminded community members, Sue organised the Bridgetown for Free Kid’s Christmas Event. Children chose their favourite toy from a multitude of donated unwrapped gifts. There was also a cake stand, sausage sizzle, bouncy castle, fancy dress-up, ice cream truck, a free fashion boutique, performances by the local choir, and even Santa Claus put in an appearance!
The event evolved from Sue’s desire to make Christmas special for all children in the area, “I wanted a day where children can be equal. There are some days where parents can’t buy their children ice cream or have them go on the bouncy castle. And on this day, every child could get a gift, an ice cream, a face paint, because it was free.”
Not only was this a tremendous day out for children and their families, but it also had positive benefits to the environment, another one of Sue’s passions. The event showed kids and families alike that brand new shiny toys are not required to have fun.
“A lot of the toys had been second-hand, they’d been donated,” said Sue, “With all the packaging that comes with new items, I think it’s so nice to show the kids, it may not be new, but it’s new to us. For example, we had several guitars that were second-hand, and they went first!”
Sue started asking for toy donations months ago and since then the event grew. “Everyone involved was really community-spirited and got into the spirit straight away and that really shocked me, in a good way.” She then started receiving monetary donations which went into renting games and buying enough gifts for all of the attendees on the day. Everyone who was involved truly made an impact on the two-hundred plus children and parents involved.
“We already have donations for next time, believe it or not!” exclaimed a very grateful Sue. To get involved for next year join the Bridgetown for Free Facebook group or private message (PM) Sue Matts Thompson on Facebook Messenger.
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