FATHER Christmas is paying a special visit next weekend to the village near York where the village hall is missing its roof.

In Wheldrake, as previously reported in The Press, everyone has been working hard to save the future of their village hall following the loss of its roof during recent storms.

The special visitor is guest of honour at Wheldrake’s Winter Wonderland event which is being held at the Wenlock Arms as part of a weekend of festive celebrations on Saturday and will hopefully provide some seasonal cheer to a community who are struggling to put the roof back on their village hall so that it can be used by their Brownies, Guides, keep fit, after school childcare and other groups.

In addition to seeing Santa, visitors can enjoy mulled wine and mince pies and buy raffle tickets to support the hall.

The organisers are putting the finishing touches to the event, which will close with carols from a local singing group whilst the Christmas lights are turned on. It is hoped that lots of people from around York will support the event by meeting Santa, and buying raffle tickets.

The singing group are also hoping to premier a new appeal song for the village hall roof and are looking for a local composer, musician, or talented young person who could write one for the occasion.

The event starts at 2pm and meeting Father Christmas costs £3.

Not missing out on her invitation to Wheldrake’s Christmas fun is Cinderella who will be the star of the local pantomime on December 13.

Thorganby Village Hall is hosting the show, with some of the proceeds being donated to Wheldrake’s village hall roof fund. Tickets are £7 and are expected to sell out.

Full details of Wheldrake’s events can be found on the Recreation Association’s Facebook page. Donations to their roof appeal can be made online at https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/wheldrakerecreationassociation