Here comes…Santa on wheels

INSTEAD of youngsters going to visit Santa in his grotto this advent, one Strabane man is working to bring Santa and his grotto to them.

Mark Hoynes, who runs Bubbly Hot Tub Hire conceived of a brand new idea to chauffeur the Man in Red around the town and district in ‘Santa’s Mobile Grotto.’

Set for launch later this month, just as the excitement around Christmas is reaching fever pitch, Mark is currently taking bookings for personal visits from the Lapland on wheels. “People can book us online and then basically, we come to their house,” Mark explained.

“Our Santa van is fitted out like a grotto and when we arrive at a house, the back doors are flung open and the kids can get on – so long as they’re socially distanced.

“We just had such a bad year. We normally do Santa around the schools but this year that isn’t happening, and so we thought how can we save the year and make up for a bit of lost income.”

As well as music and presents, local children will also be afforded the opportunity to have a socially distanced photo taken with the man himself although it will appear as though they’re beside one another.

“This isn’t something that we’ve ever done before so it has been a bit of a learning curve,” admitted Mark. “But it’s something we could do. It’s not the normal but it’s definitely better than nothing.

“The music will be playing, Santa will be there and all the children will get their presents and so it’ll be the closest thing to normal.

• For more information log onto santasmobilegrotto.co.uk