SANTA CLAUS has departed the North Pole early and will be in Dursley tomorrow giving out free presents to families and children.
Steve and Caroline Morris from First Class All Sorts have organised a free festive event taking place in their shop in Parsonage Street tomorrow (December 24) on Christmas Eve.
They have teamed up with Craig and Kate Jones who every year turn their house on St George Road into a winter wonderland complete with a Santa's grotto.
A grandfather of ten, Craig, will be dressing as Santa and handing out free presents.
“We wanted to give something back to the community by getting Santa down,” said Steve.
“We also wanted to give away free gifts to children that might not have had time to see Santa yet and their parents might be struggling at this time of year.
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“Especially after all the great custom we had over Halloween and the late night shopping nights where we were selling candy floss.”
The First Class All Sorts team and daughter Mercedes have already wrapped more than 100 gifts.
By tomorrow, they hope to have 200 wrapped and ready to be distributed free of charge to families at the event.
Caroline added: “We have used various toys, sweets and teddies from our stock as presents.
“Our neighbour from a few shops down Maria at Arpers has also donated bubbles for presents.
“I’ve got to be honest though it was all Steve’s idea as I’m a bit of a grinch - Halloween is more my thing!”
The festive event will take place tomorrow afternoon from 3pm till 4pm.
There are no bookings - but there will be a free gift for every child who attends.
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