Secret Santa…

I’m told that practically every one of you has heard of me – some say I’m the father of Christmas – others refer to me by my name, Nicholas – others call me Mr Claus… I answer to them all.

I was born a long, long time ago – around 289 AD and not in Finland, Iceland or even the North Pole – I was in fact born in Turkey (is that why at Christmas, we eat a bird with the same name….. who can tell…?)

It all began with my hobby of toy making – I used to enjoy making little toys in my spare time and giving them out to the poor children in the village.  As time went on, there were more and more children hoping for a present from me and I had to expand my operations and employ some help from others to keep up with demand.

As part of my recruitment drive, I found a community of little people who were prepared to join me. We needed a new HQ – somewhere out of the way of prying eyes – and that’s how we came to settle at the north pole – real estate is cheap and there is plenty of space and privacy, so it was ideal, if a little chilly – still my big red coat and hat help to keep me toasty warm.

In the end, I couldn’t carry all the presents on my own and had to get myself a sleigh to be able to deliver them.  At first, I tried some goats to pull it, but it proved too much for them, so then I happened upon reindeer, and the rest is history, as they say.

I seemed to have started a trend and soon many people were joining my present giving mission and giving gifts at Christmas time.

For many a year, I remained a confirmed bachelor, until I finally met my one true love, and we were married at a secret ceremony on St Valentine’s Day in 1815 – it was very romantic!  Although Mrs Claus’ prefers to keep her identify a secret… you have to be so careful with social media these days…

Many visitors head up here to see what they can see… and in the end, I had to recruit many ‘stand-ins’ to work on my behalf to meet and greet visitors – indeed we have recruited literally thousands of Santa doubles all over the world, who do a sterling job of gathering information from children about what they would like for Christmas and sending all the data back to us.

I’m always very busy concentrating on my very important work of making sure that all the presents are produced and distributed – this is a mammoth task and one that grows every year – it can be a logistical nightmare!  Being able to cover all the ground was one of the main challenges and I’ve eventually had to resort to air travel to ensure I can reach everyone in time.

I’ve heard rumours that some say I don’t exist – don’t worry, I’ve got their names, I can tell you and they won’t be on my special list of recipients!  I also have to insist on no peeking during my visit – if you don’t go to sleep, then I’m sorry but I won’t be able to call on you – that’s the agreement – rules are rules after all.

I urge you all to embrace my spirit at Christmas and to spread some kindness and good cheer during the festive celebrations.

Oh and I nearly forgot to remind you to please remember to hang up your stockings – it  makes it so much easier for me to deliver the goods when I swing by!

Merry Christmas!