Santa’s special bedtime stories for Falkirk children

And not only will Santa be reading 'The Night Before Christmas' - there will also two special editions with British Sign Language and Makaton translations.

The Trust hopes this will open up the experience of Santa reading Clement Clarke Moore’s traditional Christmas bedtime story - more correctly called “A Visit from St Nicholas - to 120,000 children around the UK who communicate solely using the sign-based languages.

The readings are part of a series of festive bedtime stories read by Santa and Mrs Claus which have been released throughout December and have already reached approximately two million people.

The inspiration for the online bedtime stories came when Falkirk Community Trust’s more traditional Christmas Adventure at Callendar House was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The team at the Trust sent an urgent letter to Santa to see if he would be able to help them out and were thrilled when Santa and Mrs Claus responded, saying they were only too happy to get involved.

The result was the world’s most famous couple paying a magical visit to Callendar House to read stories beside their magnificent Christmas tree.

Catering staff hit out at Falkirk Council plan for them to clean...Fundraiser launched after Bo'ness sandwich shop 'ruined' by fire

The readings have been a runaway hit with children and parents who have watched the first two bedtime stories, Julia Donaldson’s ‘Stick Man’ and ‘Gruffalo in Scots’, over the last three weeks.

On Christmas Eve millions across the world will be able to tune in .

Maureen Campbell OBE, chief executive of Falkirk Community Trust said: "We know this year has been tough for everyone but, thanks to unlimited travel restrictions in the magical world, both Santa and Mrs Claus were able to visit Callendar House and our specialist team of elves were able to capture their stories on film.

"We’re even more excited that, thanks to interpreters, we’ve been able to capture these stories in both British Sign Language and Makaton, the leading language programme used by adults and children with learning or communication difficulties.”

The readings are being shared on Falkirk Community Trust’s Facebook channels.

https://www.falkirkcommunitytrust.org/whats-on/we-love-christmas/

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.

https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/nord/dm/FKH/V