This year the Toy Run followed the familiar format but it was Janet and Kevin doing all the hard work ahead of time, having taken over from Tracey and Lee Sykes.
On the day the weather was bright and sunny, however the clear skies also made for cold temperatures. This chill in the air was very apparent to those who turned up early as there was a stiff breeze blowing across the car park of the Pied Bull while we waited. As ever poor Santa (Chris Biggs doing the honours again) was facing up to an uncomfortable few hours ahead!
It was some time before Jan pulled up in the car (with Kev following on his bike), but she had a pretty good excuse, having been feeling decidedly unwell in the preceding hours. It must have been a considerable effort of mind over matter to come along at all but we were obviously grateful that we did not have to come up with a plan "B".
We were quickly on our way, Santa taking his place in Tom's sidecar and the lucky elves (Chris Holland and daughter Elizabeth) having a much more comfortable ride Chris' car. My pillion passenger for the day was Tony Kirk's son Tim while daughter Francesca had the luxury of a grab rail on her dad's bike. We followed the usual route round the M25 to the A2, then off towards Blackfen and The Green at Falconwood. I wasn't the only one grateful for a chance to warm up, nibble a mince pie and enjoy a hot cup of tea while the two Chris's handed out the presents and photos were taken. It wasn't long before the festive joviality nearly resulted in a diplomatic incident however...
Occupying a corner of the main room at the home was a large round foam enclosure filled with multi-coloured balls, clearly for the benefit of the residents. Having found that the stepped surround was most comfy to sit on while they waited on Santa, a couple of Bexley visitors could not resist leaning back just a bit too far, at which point they sank right in and discovered how hard it was to get out with their feet still on the outside. Those in close proximity were understandably torn between having a good laugh and helping them out before the staff witnessed this unedifying spectacle and the spirit of goodwill etc took a bit of a knock.
Happily we left with our collective reputation untarnished and proceeded on to the next port of call via Eltham High Street. There were plenty of shoppers to wave and hoot at and plenty of traffic to get in our way, so it took a few minutes to get down to the lights and hang a left onto Court Road, from where it was a short distance to Wensley Close. We didn't stay there as long as the first stop but even so by the time we were off the father-and-daughter elf team had to head home for an imminent afternoon commitment.
The last home was not far away but the traffic around Eltham held us up a bit until we could get across the cross-roads and on to the Well Hall roundabout where we picked up the South Circular briefly before turning off into Broad Walk. We parked up in the Boys' Club car park opposite and crowded in behind Santa to receive a warm welcome.
As in previous years they had laid out a generous selection of nibbles which were much appreciated as ever, but Tony and I were a bit tight for time so after a short while we left everyone else to it and mounted up again to get Tim and Francesca back "chez Kirk". I had already resigned myself to missing the traditional pub meet-up (this time at the Pied Bull I believe) in favour of a mulled wine and mince pie extravaganza later in the afternoon. Sometimes you just can't fit all the traditions in on the same day!
A big vote of appreciation must go to Janet and Kevin for making it happen and thanks to everyone who turned up on the day.
Santa Claus, Miss Christmas and one and a half elves were accompanied from the Pied Bull by umpteen bikes, this year the barrow used to cart Santa around being piloted by Tom the Elder. Thankfully Tom had stepped in at the last moment; in fact I called him the night before when our original pilot through no fault of his own had to pull out. The Bexley TOMCC toy run was under way, the first stop being Falconwood.
Santa with his helpers was soon into distributing presents, which certainly bought a smile to everyone's faces, the mince pies hot teas and warm welcome being appreciated by all. Whilst we were there the Manager of the home took a few of us through to show off the equipment that our contribution last year had helped to purchase for the kids - a vibrating massage mattress.
Our next port of call: Eltham - again Santa was soon into his stride - personally I found this home the most difficult with the children here being severe in their disabilities - luckily I could stand back and let the more experienced among us deal with things here. My only disappointment of the day being the Duty Manager had decided to go "shopping" instead of being present as promised. The staff made up for this apparent snub of our efforts by being helpful and cheerful thus my thanks to the two young helpers.
Lastly, Kidbrooke where our welcome was warm, the children being obviously excited. The kids being socially challenged as opposed physically it was not long before they had managed to purloin rides up and down the road, in fact it was difficult to work out who had the biggest grins on their faces, riders or children. At each home all the children received a Bexley TOMCC Christmas gift and a cheque to the value of £100 was presented to all three homes. In addition a cheque for £100 was presented to the Duchenne Trust represented this year by Chris Biggs.
This year we have had donations toward the Toy Run from people far and wide including notably from America and Germany. All of whom I would like to extend my thanks to on behalf of our club, they are as follows.
All of the above have Websites or eBay Sites, links will be appearing on the Website so you can see for yourself that which they do.