Jingle rotors, 
jingle rotors . . .

By Kathryn Mainds Santa ABANDONED his reindeer on Thursday when he flew in — by helicopter — to RAF Leuchars.  Accompanied by his elves, Santa delighted the many children with a wide range of needs who’d gathered at the airbase, including a group from Rachel House.

Santa, and his elves, fly in to greet the children.

The event, now in its fifth year, started with 90 children. This year there were almost 400 children from Fife and Tayside! And there were a host of activities to keep the kids amused, from exploring the aircraft in the specially-decorated hangar, to the spectacular arrival of the Paragon Skydiving Club of Errol, who gave a display free of charge.  But you better watch out . . . ’cause Beadle’s about. Jeremy Beadle was delighted to be back for the second year running, as an active member of the Philip Green Memorial Trust.  The funnyman smiled, “It just gets better and better. The whole thing is fuelled by goodwill and the effort so many people put in is inspiring. Fantastic “They do it so well, with such good heart and these kids will remember this for ever. It’s fantastic.” The highlight of the day came at the end when every single child was given a special present from Santa. The day has taken months of planning and, despite events in Iraq, Leuchars personnel have been fund-raising all year. They are extremely grateful to the many businesses, groups and local community members who contributed substantially. CHAS spokesperson, Bob Tomlinson smiled, “The Rachel House group had a fantastic time. One or two of the children couldn’t make it, but their brothers and sisters went along and accepted the presents from Santa on their behalf. “In fact they were given a sackful of presents to take back to Rachel House for the kids who couldn’t go along, so they ended up having another party when they got back.  “Everyone had a super time. We just want to say thank you to the kind people at RAF Leuchars for such a great day.”

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