Grantham Sunrise Rotary’s Cracking Christmas Cracker

Grantham Sunrise Rotary’s Cracking Christmas Cracker

On 16 December 2023, the halls of Harlaxton Church echoed with laughter and song as Grantham Sunrise Rotary hosted its annual Christmas Cracker. This event brings Rotarians and friends together for an evening of fun, food and festive celebration.

We had huge range of entertainment, thanks to the support of our wonderful and talented community. The evening’s entertainment was kicked off by the Harlaxton Bell Ringers who played beloved festive tunes for us to sing along to and enjoy. This was followed by Harvest Moon who captivated the crowd with their energy and set full of well-loved songs, creating a lively atmosphere of singing and clapping.

Glenys Robertson blew the audience away with her performance of ‘I believe in angels’, with the voice of an angel no less. A captivating performance, one which people will remember for a long time.

At several points in the evening, our audience were seen clapping and waving and wooing along to Rock and Roll music performed by Soundburst. A brilliant addition to the evening’s events.

Poems were particularly popular with the guests of our Christmas Cracker this year. Val read the first poems of the evening including one which tells the uplifting tale of ‘Little donkey’s First Christmas’ which was enjoyed by all. This was followed later in the evening by Kevin who added a little humour to the festivities with ‘Just in case’ and ‘The Christmas Poem’.

To add some extra merry to the Christmas festivities, Inner Wheel and Friends took to the stage to sing The Twelve Boozy Days of Christmas. It was a fantastic performance filled with cheer and laughter throughout.

We ended the evening with two of our very own, Kevin and Irvin who sang a couple of Rock and Roll songs before being joined by Soundburst for a grand finale. This event would not have been possible without all of these fantastic acts, and we are so grateful for their support.

Being a part of, or a friend of Rotary is to be part of a community and we could not think of a better way to share our community spirit at Christmas than over a festive drink and a sweet treat. We had mulled wine, homemade apple juice, mince pies and lots more!

But perhaps the true highlight of the evening was the overwhelming success of our raffle. Despite the Christmas Cracker not being a fundraising event, the generosity of our attendees saw nearly £300 raised through event and raffle sales. This unexpected windfall allowed us to spread even more Christmas cheer by donating the proceeds to Grantham Passage, supporting their efforts to provide food hampers, gifts, and treats to homeless and vulnerable individuals in our community.

We were just overwhelmed by the warmth, joy and cheer shared by all who attended. The Christmas Cracker has become a cherished tradition, and we hope it will continue to spread holiday cheer for years to come. We look forward to doing it all again in 2024 and hope to see you there!

🖊 Chloe Rollings