A local business in a Co Antrim town decided to rally the community together to put on a Christmas grotto for children in the area.
Andy Kilpatrick, 35, of northXsouth was chatting to his wife at the beginning of November about how Ballymoney didn't have its own permanent festive grotto.
Three weeks later, after contacting other businesses in the town as well as the local Chamber of Commerce, Andy and the team were able to transform a small box room in their shop into a magical grotto for children to enjoy free of charge.
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Over the space of three Saturdays in December, plus a special closed event for a local primary school, around 300 children were able to meet Santa and receive a gift.
"I think it speaks as a testament to the town that everyone rallied together in the mouth of Christmas to put on a bit of a show," Andy told Belfast Live.
"My wife and I thought it was quite miserable Ballymoney didn't have a grotto. We run events in the shop, but wanted to do something specifically for the community.
"We decided last minute we would do a grotto with no idea of how we would do it, but we quickly fell in with Louise from Fuse FM, which is a local charity radio station, and our local chamber of commerce. We all came together and figured out what we needed, which was to convert a bare bones box storage room into a Christmas grotto.
"We needed to source a Santa, and Louise was instrumental when it came to things we didn't consider initially, such as child protection.
"In the process of building the grotto, our local hardware store gave us very generous discounts. Our local Tesco donated selection boxes. Anytime I had to ask anybody if they could help us out, there was no question, everyone just asked how they could help."
When it came to sourcing a Santa for the grotto, Andy reached out to local man Liam Beckett MBE, who is currently a pundit for BBC Sport.
"I cheekily popped him a message to see if he knew anybody, i.e. will you be Santa Claus. Liam has 10 grandchildren and is a busy man with the sport, but without hesitation he volunteered to be Santa," Andy explained.
"On our final day on Saturday there was a lady with two children who turned up around 20 minutes late. We hadn't been able to get in touch to see if they were coming, so by that stage, we had closed down.
"She arrived into the shop with the children and by this stage, Liam had already taken the suit off, and was in his coat, with his hat and gloves on, ready to walk out the door. But then without any thought, he snuck back around the back and got changed into his suit again to see the last two children. I think that just sums it all up."
The grotto events sold out within 90 minutes, with the team already planning to open it back up again next Christmas. This time, however, they're hoping to get more planning in place so they can double or triple the amount of children able to visit Santa.
Andy said: "I haven't done the exact total, but it's around 300 children that we have had through the door, completely free of charge.
"We saw some prices in neighbouring towns where they were charging up to £12 a head. We had groups with maybe five children, so that's £60 to take your kids to see Santa.
"With this, there wasn't really any stress, every step was such a pleasure because everybody in the community was so helpful. It's been a really magical time. It shows what a small town can do when everybody works together."
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