ADAS Big SWON Report

Santa arrived at Audlem Wharf last Friday amidst a sea of RNLI 'make a wish' candles and was accompanied towards the Square by his two Elves.

The lights on the big tree were switched on by Phillip and Barbara Baker and family, sponsors of this year's Switch On.The choir of St James School sang Christmas songs and carols to entertain a crowd of over 1000 people who had gathered for the event.

Thanks to all the hard work carried out by ADAS volunteers the Village was beautifully decorated and ablaze with lights.

Santa took up residence in his Grotto where he spent the next two hours chatting to more than 130 young people- this year he had a heated blanket to help keep him warm!

Scouts and Guides had a fund-raising stall under the Buttermarket.

The large crowd enjoyed an evening of Christmas shopping and socialising with friends.

There are many people who deserve thanks for the organisation and management of this event which takes many months of planning and hard work! This year there were 64 small trees, which required cabling and dressing, and of course the large tree had to be collected and erected in the Square.As well as the usual willing band of ADAS volunteers who prepare for the evening, the help of crowd marshals and traffic controllers on the night ensured the safety of all the visitors.

Thanks are due to:
Paul Couchman from VDUB and Andy McClintock who collected the small trees in a truck and trailer. Duttons loaned a cherry-picker to enable the dressing of the big tree. PET tool hire allowed 40 of their safety barriers to be used for crowd safety. The Gresty family supplied radios for the event marshalling.Sweets for the Grotto were donated by a local resident. The Huckle family allowed their Barns to be used for dressing and storing the small trees. The Sullivan family hosted Santa's Grotto in their garage. 8 hay bales for the Grotto were supplied by the Furber family. Machinery for the installation of the big tree came from the Gleave family. Pete Hollinshead operated the cherry-picker to dress the big tree. McCarthy and Stone sponsored the big tree- ADAS had to purchase a big tree this year. The Baker family sponsored the Switch On of the lights.

A final thank you is due to the car drivers who patiently waited while traffic was halted during the event.Cheshire Police were in attendance and the marshals supervised the flow of traffic during the evening

As usual, the Big Switch On was a huge success and was enjoyed by all who took part.Whilst the event is free for everyone to attend, ADAS were grateful for the donations received in the Grotto and if you feel you would like to contribute towards the evening or sponsor a small tree please take your donations to Flower Divas.

Everyone enjoyed this festive evening which again signals the start of the Christmas season in Audlem '''

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