Santa swapped his sleigh for a Stagecoach bus to raise money for equipment which will helps disabled children and babies.
A Stagecoach bus was transformed into a pop-up Santa's Grotto outside of Tesco in Kingston Park on Friday November 26, in aid of fundraising for the Chronicle's Sunshine Fund charity.
The Sunshine Fund is a North East based charity which supports disabled children by supplying them with specialist equipment not available on the NHS to allow them to live as normal a life as possible.
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Equipment can range from sensory toy bundles for babies to specially adapted equipment such as beds or sleep systems, specialist wheelchairs and trikes.
The grotto was open free of charge to Tesco customers throughout the day, but reserved during a specific time for children at Cleaswell Hill Primary School in Choppington, which is a school for pupils with a range of complex learning difficulties and disabilities.
The festive bus was designed to be accessible to children of all abilities.
Pupils were able to climb aboard the decorated bus and meet with Santa himself, have a chat and get a photo with the big man.
Tesco provided the charity with free sweets to for Santa to hand out to children too, and a choir made up of volunteers from Sage Accountancy sang festive songs throughout the day.
Teacher at Cleaswell Hill, Jamie Wheadon, said the event was the first time the children had been brought out for a meet-and-green with Santa.
"The school have previously done a lot of work with Tesco, they've been very helpful at fundraising for us. We're picking up selection boxes from them today to give to the children.
"What's nice about this event from the Sunshine Fund is that it helps keep the children within their comfort zones while also giving them the opportunity to try something new.
"They'e at school, so they know they are safe and they know they have familiar staff present. They are safely segregated from everybody and crowds of people so it's nice and relaxed for them.
"For a lot of these children, especially the ones with autism, they don't like going to big shopping centres with lots of people, or wait in a queue for a long time. They still enjoy Christmas, and they still enjoy doing fun things, but they don't always have the opportunity to do events in a relaxed way, so that they can enjoy it without any stress."
Also on hand to entertain the children were volunteers from North East children's charity True Colours Theatre Shannon Charters and charity CEO Alisar Hassanyeh who performed Christmas songs in Makaton sign language for the children outside Tesco.
Volunteering with collection buckets and helping the event run smoothly were Stagecoach bus drivers Shaun Cree and Shaun Anderson and Operations Manager Carl Trodden from the Slatyford depot. Driver Jon Middlemis took on the role of Santa Claus.
Carl said: "We look forward to doing these Christmas events every year, it's our at Stagecoach of way of giving something back to the community.
"We love being able to help the Sunshine Fund. We try and get involved wherever we can, and we're continuing to raise money for the charity over the festive season by having the drivers dress up as Santa on their regular routes.
"It's really rewarding to watch the children have a good time today."
Also supporting the event were staff from St James' Square Law Firm, including Managing Partner Paul Monaghan and Practise Manager Mark Roche.
St James' Square have been longstanding charity partners to the Sunshine Fund, and have hosted various fundraising events over the space of a year in order to raise money for the charity, who were nominated as the firm's 'Charity of the Year' in 2020. The firm recently agreed to extend their support until 2022.
The firm worked in partnership with the Fund to host the Noche Del Sol ball in early November at St James Square, which raised over £55,000 for the charity.
"It's a privilege to be here today to support the Sunshine Fund and their efforts," said Paul. "We began supporting the charity at the beginning of 2020. When March came around and the country went into lockdown, we've seen the huge increase in applications from families and organisations in need of that equipment which the Sunshine Fund provide.
"It therefore only felt right to keep offering our support to the charity, and the essential work they do in North East communities.
"Last year was very difficult for adults, but it must have been a real struggle for children. It has been brilliant to have this opportunity to watch them go and meet Santa today and experience a bit of normality again."
Also at the event was Chief Executive of True Potential Wealth Management, Daniel Harrison.
True Potential, who are partners of the Sunshine Fund, have supported the charity for three years through various events including running The Great North Run on their behalf this year - raising £12,500 in total for the charity.
Daniel said: "We are thrilled to have been invited by the team Chronicle's Sunshine Fund.
"Causes like today are very special, it's heartwarming to watch the children laughing and grinning away today, especially after so much has been cancelled and put on hold.
"It's great for True Potential to come along today, but we don't do it to be thanked, we do it because it's a fantastic community cause and it helps children out.
"I plan for True Potential to be here showing our support for many years to come."
Sunshine Fund Director, Siobhan Sargeant, said that she hears from parents of children with additional needs on a regular basis who who can't take their children to meet Santa anywhere, either because there isn't anywhere which is specialised for their children, or because parents worry if their child has a "melt down" other parents will judge them.
"The Santa grotto bus is a hugely important part of Christmas for many families and children for this very reason," she said.
"We were absolutely devastated last year when we realised that the grotto bus couldn't go ahead as children of all abilities should have the opportunity to meet Santa around Christmas in a safe space.
"We love working with Stagecoach because they share this ethos too.
"Our grotto is not only free to visit, but it's free from judgement.
"We'd like to say a gigantic thank you to everyone who took part and made today happen."
The grotto bus will be located outside Killingworth Shopping Centre in North Tyneside on Sunday 26 November. Entry is free of charge and there is no need to prebook.
