Children treated to a festive breakfast with Santa at KCOM

Christmas came early for 38 youngsters from Mountbatten Primary School today when they were treated to a surprise visit from Father Christmas.

The youngsters enjoyed a special breakfast, disco dancing, a festive story and presents aplenty at the surprise party, which was held at KCOM’s HQ in Hull city centre as part of HEY Children’s University annual Breakfast with Santa events.

And with presents including dolls houses, racing cars, dinosaurs, scooters and Paw Patrol toys delivered by Santa’s helper elves on the day there was a lot of smiling faces on show.

Rose James, HEY Children’s University CEO, said the event had been another seasonal success, helping to bring the festive spirit to the east Hull youngsters.

She said: “It’s a great thing to do every year. There are lots of children who may not have very much to look forward to this Christmas and every year we hear stories from parents who really want to create something magical for their children, but don’t have the means to do so. That’s why we partner a school every year with a local businesses like KCOM to make events like this possible. It wouldn’t happen without the support of the local business community.

“We want to bring that magic to as many children as possible through these events. The children have no idea that they’re going to meet Santa, have breakfast with his elves and get presents so it’s fantastic to  see the joy on their faces – it’s quite humbling. There’s always a lot of energy and excitement in the room and it can be quite emotional.”

KCOM is a longstanding Gold community partner with HEY Children’s University and collaborates on dozens of events throughout the year – with more than 2,000 children using the company’s Learning Zone for events in the past 12 months.

This year, KCOM staff helped Father Christmas buy presents for all 38 five and six -year-olds in the Year One class – with ten volunteer elves also indulging in a spot of dancing at the party too.

KCOM chief elf Louise Babych, said her colleagues always look forward to Breakfast with Santa as one of the highlight events on the company’s busy community calendar.

She said: “We love being part of Breakfast With Santa, it’s a truly brilliant event that KCOM loves getting involved in. To see the children enjoying themselves and clutching their presents with huge grins on their faces is really uplifting – it really helps get you in the Christmas spirit!”

One youngster who was proudly holding his new scooter summed up the day, saying: “It’s brilliant. Thank you very much Santa.”