THIS WEEK
MNL
THIS WEEK
Elf and Seek! Over the weekend a festive-themed fundraiser took place to help raise money to bring the festive cheer to patients across Liverpool University Hospitals, as DANNIELLE JONES reports
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isitors to a Mossley Hill golf club were faced with a charitable challenge over the weekend - trying to seek out Santa’s missing elves. Christmas is well and truly under way, and to mark the festive season a wide range of festive themed events have been taking place over Merseyside recently. Among them includes the Liverpool University Hospitals Charity Elf Hunt. The festive-themed treasure hunt took place over the weekend in a bid to raise money for the Liverpool University Hospitals. It was organised by the Hospitals Trust Charity, R Charity, and took place on the grounds of Allerton Manor Golf Club over the weekend. Guests who took part were greeted by a welcome snowfall show before they followed the treasure trail to search for the hidden elves in a bid to ‘return them to Santa’. Loren Slade, communications assistant for Liverpool University Hospitals Trust, told MNL about the event, saying: “Our Elf Hunt is the perfect Christmas event for the whole family. O
n entry guests were greeted by a magical snowfall before following the trail to find the 15 hidden elves. “Once guests found them all they were presented with a certificate and prize and along the route as well as searching for the elves there was a chance for visitors to write a letter to Santa and when they were finished a warm hot chocolate was waiting for them at the end along with Santa himself.”
It’s great to be able to host family events again and we hope that our elf hunt brought a lot of Christmas Tickets - which were £9.50 per child and £1 donation per adult - also provided visitors with a variety of arts and craft activities to take part in as well as some festive-themed games including ‘Elf off the shelf’ to excite all the family.
Guests had to find all the elves to winprize. Photo Credit: Louise Smith on Unsplash The funds raised from the event are to help provide patients at the hospitals with a feeling of a ‘normal’ Christmas. Loren told MNL: “This year all the funds raised from the event will ensure that all our patients across Broadgreen, The Royal and Aintree Hospitals have a gift to open on Christmas morning and we hope that this small gesture will bring a little joy at such a worrying time for our patients.”
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he event almost sold out with over 1,200 children and 2,000 adults scheduled to attend over the two days. Loren added: “Overall our numbers are more than previous events however due to the pandemic we had to reduce numbers, so we added an extra day on the Sunday so that it ran over two days.” Covid-19 is again making headlines with cases climbing in the UK after the new Omicron variant was
detected in the Uk and in Liverpool recently, but Loren explained that measures were in place to keep visitors safe at the event which was also held outdoors to reduce the risks. She also told us how she thinks events like this are key to help bring the Christmas cheer during the pandemic currently, adding: “It’s great to be able to host family events again and we hope that our elf hunt brought a lot of Christmas cheer.” The fundraiser is the first festive themed event by the R Charity this year, and will be followed by their Charity Christmas Bauble Appeal. Loren explained: “We have our hospital Christmas Bauble Appeal coming up where patients, family members and staff can donate and place a bauble on our Christmas trees across the hospital sites.” The money raised from this will also go towards the fundraising for Christmas gifts for patients during the festive season.
The Charity also have their Christmas Bauble Appeal coming up. Photo Credit: Tessa Rampersad on Unsplash
Visitors also got write a letter to santa and even got to visit him at the end and take a photograph. Photo Credit: Srikanta H. U on Unsplash 6