By Colin Smeeton
The popular Santa’s Sparkle event, due to be held in Lamlash next month, has been cancelled.
Events Arran has taken the difficult decision after a recruitment drive failed to recruit any new volunteers.
Originally organised by the then-owners of the Glenisle Hotel, the annual event has a long history of being Arran’s premiere pre-Christmas event.
After the Glenisle was sold, Santa’s Sparkle was taken over by the Lamlash community which has successfully hosted it since 2017 with the help of a small army of community volunteers who arranged all of the legal and financial work and the organising of stalls and the many activities and performances.
Each year, the Events Arran committee appealed for volunteers to help them run and organise the event, however, a core group of volunteers were left to take on all of the tasks with volunteer numbers dwindling to such an extent that the group no longer feels it can deliver the Sparkle without more volunteers.
At its latest meeting, committee members discussed the situation with a spokesperson saying: “Events Arran met on Friday October 13 to review plans for the Santa Sparkle on Saturday November 25 this year and have taken the very difficult decision not to proceed due to the concerns around not having enough volunteers to ensure we can deliver another safe and successful event.
“We had hoped our request for assistance and more volunteers would allow us to continue but sadly this has not been forthcoming and is probably a sign of the times as people struggle with many different pressures.
“Everyone at Events Arran acknowledges the fantastic previous support in the community and wish everyone a healthy and happy festive season.”
Unfortunately, the demise of Santa’s Sparkle also means the regular markets held at Arran High School will also cease. There is some hope though that stall holders will band together and apply for a market licence so that the markets can continue.
Jane Howe of Events Arran said the committee hopes someone will step forward to take on Santa’s Sparkle and that she would be happy to offer advice to anyone wanting to take it on.
Santa arrives on a pony trap for the 2016 Sparkle. 01_B42sparkle01_23_santa_parade