VOLUNTEERS from Barnsley Council lent a hand to turn a meeting room in Thurnscoe Library into Santa’s grotto.
The transformation was part of Big Local Thurnscoe’s (BLT) ‘Christmas Cracker’ event, which saw Santa visit the village and featured entertainment from Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir and the Barnsley Metropolitan Band.
The volunteers also put up Christmas trees and wrapped more than 200 presents for Santa to hand out to children.
BLT Development Worker Alison Vint said: “The team was fantastic and carried out all the tasks with great enthusiasm.
“Whilst we have an amazing team of BLT volunteers, we just don’t have the time to do everything and we are so grateful to Victoria Oliver and her team for choosing us as their organisation to support this year.”
Barnsley Council IT manager Victoria Oliver said: “As a team working in IT our usual day to day activity means we spend a lot of time behind a computer screen.
“When I discovered volunteers were needed to help set up Thurnscoe Library for the Big Christmas Cracker event I jumped at the chance to get out of the office and get our creative hats on.
“We wrapped, glued, stuck and decorated like a busy team of Christmas elves. It was hard work but it was also a great opportunity to make a difference.
“Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved at the Library, I think we are all on Santa’s good list now.”
Thurnscoe also celebrated having Christmas lights for the first time, with support from Balmoral Tanks which opened a factory in the village earlier this year.
