By Peter Barnett
Father Christmas has lost ten of his elves in the Ramsgate area and needs the children of Thanet to help him find them before Christmas Eve.
The young super sleuths will work from a special detection map to hunt down the ten locations that are in the town’s Westcliff area – the elves will be wearing colourful tights, pointy hats and pointy shoes
Each time they find an elf they record the information needed and then take their completed sheet to Moon Lane children’s book and toy store in Addington Street; or Roostys Bakery in Belmont Road to receive their reward from Father Christmas.
The trail – which is the idea of the Parent Council at Ramsgate Arts Primary School -begins on December 12, although tickets are on sale now.
In previous years the group has run a festive grotto and Christmas fair for children to enjoy. The Parent Council explained: “Covid 19 made it difficult to safely organise these events so we came up with a safer alternative. We just wanted the children to experience some Christmas magic in 2020.”
Maps are purchased via PayPal using this email address – [email protected]. The child’s name and address must be added in the comment section.
There are two trail ticket prices – a £5 ticket enables a reward of a Christmas book from Moon Lane; a £2 ticket reward is a tasty Christmas cookie from Roostys.
The Parent Council team added: “We wanted to partner with local businesses to support our local economy and encourage footfall to independent stores. The trail is open to the public, not just Ramsgate Arts Primary pupils.”
The organisers thanked Moon Lane and Roostys for their support, plus Rob at Graphical Sign at Manston Business Park for printing the elves.
The Roostys team said: “Following the success of the scary scarecrow trail this year, we are delighted to be working in collaboration with Ramsgate Arts Primary School again. Please join in to help Father Christmas find his elves and bring some Christmas cheer to 2020.”
Nicci Rosengarten, Manager, Moon Lane Children’s Books & Toys, said: “We are so delighted to be partnering with Ramsgate Arts Primary School for this year’s Christmas Trail.
“As the local independent award-winning children’s bookshop, working together with our local community and schools is a vital part of what we do to bring diverse and inclusive literature to children from any background. We can’t wait for the children to receive a new Christmas-themed book once they have found all the elves.”
Nick Budge, Head of RAPS, said:” This is a fabulous community initiative. It will be great fun turning detective to hunt out the missing elves and win a present from Santa too.
“Our Parent Council does fabulous work and rather than see the children miss out on the festive events they organise in school, they turned their initiative to create a terrific trail in the community that all children can enjoy.”