Skating Santas at National Ice Centre to make Christmas special for children living in poverty

Taking place on 22 December, the National Ice Centre will donate £5 from every ticket bought for the Great Santa Skate to Mission Christmas, the Cash for Kids charity which aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.

Book here www.national-ice-centre.com/whats-on/great-santa-skate

Collection boxes for gifts will be available around the rink and in the foyer of Motorpoint Arena, where visitors can donate a gift to Mission Christmas, with the charity saying it mostly needs gifts for babies and teenagers, especially boys.

The charity skate comes at the end of a year which has seen the National Ice Centre provide 3,380 hot meals and skating activity days to children eligible for free school meals in Nottingham to make sure they don't go hungry in the holidays.

The initiative is delivered through the Holiday Activity Fund, a £200 million country wide programme funded by the Department for Education as a result of footballer Marcus Rashford's campaign for free school meals.

National Ice Centre operations manager Ryan Rathbone said: "It's great to be making a difference to thousands of children through this initiative. As well as getting a hot meal instead of going hungry in the holidays, the kids get the chance to try skating too. The children really love their days here with many coming back several times over and it's been really rewarding for all the staff as well who have been working hard to make sure the children have a really great time."

During the Christmas school holidays, the National Ice Centre is running four days with 210 funded places available each day for children in receipt of the holiday scheme voucher. Sessions will take place on 27 and 28 December and 2 and 3 January with booking open online.

The Great Santa Skate will take place on Saturday 22 December and is set to be a festive experience to remember with the chance to skate to all the greatest Christmas hits, stop off for festive treats at the rink side cafe, or add on a visit to Santa in his magical grotto (pre booking advised).

Tickets are £15 each for the Santa Skate, which includes a full Santa outfit to get into character for the skating session. Under 5s skate for free and are encouraged to bring their own Santa hat or festive outfit to join in the fun.

Christmas at Nottingham Motorpoint Arena and the National Ice Centre has something for all the family with a full programme of music concerts, top family shows, festive skating and elite sporting contests coming up.

Details about what's on can be found online at www.national-ice-centre.com and www.motorpointarenanottingham.com