SANTA @THE NEST

After a turbulent few years we are looking forward to Santa @ the Nest returning this year 2022 and we are aiming to make it the biggest yet. Stay tuned for the date closer to Christmas  and once you see it…  SAVE THE DATE. Have a read of the piece below on what the last one was like and what its all about.

A TASTE OF OUR 2019 EVENT

Are we over Christmas? It may seem that we have overcome another festive season and the memories of holidays past. Here at The Nest, we find ourselves reminiscing over one very special day… The day Old Saint Nick’s sleigh touched ground in Salthill and made a very special visit to our cosy hostel.

It was the 6th of December and our hard working team were working tirelessly in preparation for Father Christmas’ arrival. Everyone had a job and as we worked towards a common goal, boys and girls from across Galway made their way towards us with excitement and anticipation. We were ready for our visitors, warm mince pies covered the tables and the sweet scent of mulled wine and hot chocolate filled our lobby. The Christmas trees we had decorated twinkled and glistened and made for a magical set up.

There was commotion all through the hostel with our staff making all the preparations for our young arrivals inside and our good friends from Handsome Burger generously set up outside, ready to fill the bellies of everyone in the festive spirit.

Eventually the clock struck 4pm and our space filled rapidly with children of all ages with wide smiles and a taste for magic. Everyone scrambled to make sure they wouldn’t miss out on any of the sweet treats we provided. Among the clamour of chatter and giggles, you could make out the faint sound of toddlers attempting to sing along to the festive tunes playing and the gasps of the girls and boys in awe as they met Santa Claus himself.

With it being the third year of our annual Santa meet and greet we were ready to do all we could to ensure that each of the children felt the joy of the special season. Unfortunately not all children had the ability to make such a venture, and so, we dedicated our Christmas event to those less fortunate children who need our support. By building an alliance with the Galway Sick Kids Foundation we set out to fundraise for their very worthy cause.

Each child who came along for the Christmas event was automatically entered into a raffle for a Mega hamper, which was filled with some jaw dropping prizes. The hamper was made up of donations from magnanimous businesses all across Galway such as Premoli Shoes, Smyths Toys, Peter Murphy Electrical, and Salthill Devon FC to name but a few. Thanks to these generous businesses and such an incredible response from the public we raised over €2,400 for such a good cause.