We are proud to report that our first Christmas Family Market was a huge success! Held at The River Mill, Darley Abbey with the help and support from Chrissie Rose, Founder/ Director of The West Mill, The River Mill, The Mill House and The Mill Cottage. What a superb venue for a Christmas Market, the River Mill oozes character whist creating a warm and welcoming environment for families to enjoy the perfect day together.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Cosy Foundation for sponsoring the event, we are so grateful to all the team at Cosy for their continued support.
We are also so thankful to so many people for supporting Children First Derby, who attended to shop for gifts or who had their own stall to showcase their wonderful merchandise.
Personal thanks go out to Rachel Hill for bringing her very well-behaved donkeys to say ‘Hi’ to the children & adults, what beautiful cared for happy donkeys, they made so many people smile on the day, and we cannot wait to have them visit again next year.
We had a special visit from the one and only Santa Claus, who had some chocolate gifts for the children, spent some lovely quality time having a chat with the little ones and even a little dog came to say Hi! Children were also able to write him a letter, sit in his sleigh and have photos taken with him.
Wendy Horsman, friend of the Charity, donated her time to face paint Christmassy designs on the children’s faces while they waited to see Santa Claus.
Robert Simpson from Hands And Paws Photography kindly donated his time to photograph the event and capture some wonderful shots of families making happy Christmas memories.
While the inside of the venue was buzzing with life the beautiful courtyard hosted areas where children toasted marshmallows to make S’mores, danced in the snow at the snowman selfie station and the adults enjoyed their mulled wine and festive food.
Thank you to everyone that participated in making this event such a wonderful success and helping support our local vulnerable children, young people and their families.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone at Children First Derby!