Santa’s farmyard cottage will become a serene haven for children with autism and their families on 1 December.
Almond Valley have teamed up with Lothian Autistic Society to offer exclusive visits to Santa for children who may get distressed with loud music, flashing lights and long queues.
Instead of a bright, noisy environment, Santa will be greeting his visitors in a more tranquil environment with lights dimmed and music turned off.
Time slots with be offered to families to avoid any queues and parents will be provided with photos of the experience in advance to prepare children on what’s to come.
Andrea Wood from Lothian Autistic Society said: ‘We were delighted to be involved with the new autism-friendly experiences for Christmas. There are so many families across Scotland who are unable to take their children to see Santa so it’s fantastic that Almond Valley is helping them to have a magical visit to see Santa.’
In order to make sure that the experience for special for everyone, the team at Almond Valley reached out to parents of children with autism to find out exactly what they wanted to see in the visits.
As well as visiting Santa, families coming on the 1 December will have full access to the site and the farm team are offering smaller, private animal encounter sessions so children can meet the animals of the farm without dealing with crowds and noise.
Santa will take up residency in his farmyard cottage throughout December at Almond Valley and families can book suppers, teas and breakfast with him as well as individual cottage visits.
The price of a visit includes full access to the site as well as a special gift.
The special visits will run from 10am–5pm on Saturday 1 December and families must book in advance. Visits cost £6 per child including a gift and ful access to the site and carers go free.
All Santa visits including the autism-friendly visits can be booked by calling 01506 414957 to reserve a slot. For more information visit, http://almondvalley.co.uk/SPXmas.html.
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