Virtual Santa’s Grotto open now

HO, HO, HO!

The company behind the Edinburgh City Pass has created a ‘virtual grotto’ for families who won’t be able to visit Santa in person this Christmas.

The ‘Surprise Santa’ personal video service is the brainchild of Geoff Morrison, founder of Open Pass Scotland, operates the Edinburgh and Stirling City Passes as well as running the popular Old Town Jail visitor attraction in Stirling. 

The personal video service offers a lifeline for families to get in touch with Santa from home by uploading letters to Santa online (so much easier than sending them up the chimney – especially if you don’t have an open fire.)

Geoff explained they then receive a personalised video call from the man in red himself, in plenty of time for Christmas.  

He said:“With so much uncertainty we reached out to Santa and offered to help out. If families aren’t able to come to him, we would bring Santa to them. We’ve created a safe way to upload a letter to Santa and then receive a truly magical and genuine personalised video response.

“Our Santa (David Kinnaird) has been bringing joy to children throughout Scotland for over twenty years. When we found out he was literally out of a job we felt we had to do something about this. Surprise Santa was born, and we have already had an exceptional response since going live.

“Hopefully Surprise Santa will be a reassuring stepping-stone on the journey back to normality.’

Surprise Santa is also supporting the Eilidh Brown Memorial fund with £1 from every online sale via the website going directly towards the building and maintenance of a respite holiday home in the Stirling area for young people and their families who are in treatment or recovering from cancer.

To find out more about Surprise Santa visit SurpriseSanta.co.uk