Christmas Winter Wonderland at Harris Group for the ‘Little Blue Heroes’ charity

It was an absolute privilege for Harris Group to host a very special Christmas Winter Wonderland event on Sunday 20th December ’22 to support the truly amazing ‘Little Blue Heroes‘ charity, which supports families who have children undergoing long-term medical treatment for serious illness. This charity would simply not exist without the enormous input of a small army of volunteers drawn from An Garda Siochana, retired Gardai, their families, friends and civic minded people from communities all over Ireland. It was truly humbling to meet some of them on the day and of course, we particularly enjoyed meeting and chatting with these amazing children and their inspirational families -they are the true heroes.

We would like to extend a special thank you to ‘Actavo‘ for their fantastic tunnel of Christmas lights – the longest tunnel of lights ever erected in Ireland together with all the fabulous lighting they provided on the day. Also, a big thank you to ‘Planit‘ for providing Santa’s Grotto, a magnificent sleigh and other magical Christmas props together with an Arts and Crafts area, a cinema was provided too, with input by both ‘Planit’ and ‘Actavo’, where the children, their siblings and their parents enjoyed wonderful films. 

Thanks to Paddywagon Tours for supplying transport and providing a bus for the children to enjoy a make believe trip as a passenger and driver. To Martin Barry of ‘Showtime Media‘ for providing illuminated signage. A huge thank you to these companies for giving of their time and resources on a purely voluntary basis, ensuring a truly magical day for everyone. Thanks also to Denis O’Connell who drove all the way from Fermanagh with his pet sheep -they were an enormous hit with the children. Thanks to ‘Sidewalk Catering‘ who supplied drinks and food. The smiles on all the faces of the children and their families made it so worthwhile and I hope that together we have created memories that will last a lifetime.

A very big thank you also to so many members of An Garda Siochana for being present and guiding us with the preparation, to the Garda Band with Inspector Pat Kenny as Conductor together with the Garda Mounted Unit and Garda Dog unit all of which added enormously to the joy and wonderment on the day. A special word of praise to all the Garda Buddy’s of ‘The Little Blue Heroes’ who are so devoted to their little friends.

To end, an enormous ‘thank you’ to everyone working here on the Naas Road who played Santa Clause, Reindeers, Elves, and Snow people and gave of their time so freely on the Sunday before Christmas. A special word of thanks to Pat Curran and his son Podge who worked long hours into the night leading up to the event.

It was a truly humbling experience to have been afforded the opportunity to be a part of this momentous occasion and memorable day for ‘The Little Blue Heroes’.