Refunds offered after Santa replacement causes upset

Disappointed parents have been told they can get refunds after a venue's regular Santa was replaced by organisers.

Santa appeared at Winchester's Great Hall for at least 15 years but he was told in the spring that he would no longer be needed, leaving him "very sad".

Hampshire Cultural Trust, which took on the management of the Great Hall from Hampshire County Council in April, told him it "wished to do their own thing".

The trust's chief executive, Paul Sapwell, said its new Santa "always takes feedback onboard, which is quite surprising for someone who's so busy this time of year".

Some complained that 2024's Santa did not have a real beard and that the Great Hall's experience was not up to scratch compared to those delivered by the council.

The previous Santa told the BBC he always enjoyed visiting "wonderful" Winchester.

"[He and the trust] had a phone call sometime in the spring that [Santa and his elf] were no longer required, which made me very sad.

"They telephoned me, thanked me for the many years but they wished to do their own thing this year. I said: 'you'll be upsetting an awful lot of children if you do that' but they carried on," he added.

"It made me very sad because of the past 15, 20 years we have been there we have made a lot of children very happy and they have grown up seeing me every year.

"So we had so many people returning every year – whole hosts of Christmas photographs. It was absolutely lovely.

"Winchester's a wonderful city. Whilst the Great Hall was being looked after by the county council it became a very good event. It was honest, gentle, fun and everybody loved it. To lose it is very sad."

The cultural trust runs several museums and galleries across Hampshire.

"We're a local, not-for-profit arts and museums charity so profiteering at this time of year is really not what we're about," Mr Sapwell said.

"We're absolutely devastated that some people haven't had a good experience at the grotto at the Great Hall."

Mr Sapwell said it recognised that some parents booked expecting previous years' Santa to be there and that its event experienced early "teething problems".

"We don't want anyone to go away disappointed, which is why we're offering refunds for people who haven't visited who thought they were visiting the previous years' experience," he added.

"We've worked positively with Santa and his elf office in Lapland for many years in our other museums and galleries. Santa always takes feedback onboard, which is quite surprising for someone who's so busy this time of year, and so do we.

"So we're working really closely with him to continually improve the experience that we are offering here for the rest of the season."

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