The festivities were also enjoyed by the residents and staff of Oakhurst Gardens and their families, with all enjoying a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. Sally Morris, chief executive and registered manager, said: “A truly magnificent afternoon with so many memorable moments for our residents, relatives, staff and their families. After another challenging year we felt it was important to bring some joy and happiness and spread a little magic at Christmas time.”
As well as the reindeer, there was a great display of Christmas lights, Santa in his grotto, the elves’ workshop and mascot Rusty the Bear. The local community made the event extra special, with donations of selection boxes from Tesco Chichester and Morrisons Littlehampton being handed out by Father Christmas to the children of relatives and staff and a visiting primary school choir. Hanwells, Waitrose, M&S and Dunelm also kindly made donations and Iceland Rustington collected 700 boxes of mince pies, which were kindly donated by the local community to be enjoyed by residents at Rustington Hall and Oakhurst Gardens, as well as some of the tenants in the off-site properties, including emergency accommodation for families in urgent need of housing.
Sammy Hydes, customer relations manager, said: “Here at Rustington Hall, we love holding these types of events which bring families and the community together to create great times and cherished memories.”