It's that time again! Join us for a day of celebration and local Christmas fun. Here you'll find full details of what's on and how to get involved
First, the basics!
What: A day of warm and welcoming festive fun!
When: Saturday December 9th, 11am- 3pm.
Where: Railway Gardens, end of Adeline Street, Splott
Is it free to come in? Definitely!
Do you need volunteers? Yes please! See below
Food and drink
- Things on Toast will be open offering festive specials and hot chocolate plus you can pick up some toast merch (yes, really!) if you’re looking for a stocking filler for a toast lover.
- The SAFE Foundation will be offered sustainably sourced coffee from Betty the Bus.
- The Railway Gardens team will be serving up steaming mulled wine and non-alcoholic mulled punch to raise funds for the project – please bring your own cup if you can!
- We’re hoping to have a cake stall but we can only do this with your help! Use the contact form at the bottom of the page to tell us if you plan to bring a cake.
Festive Market
Our focus is on local, independent, and ethical makers – there will be plenty to choose from including…
- Tremorfa Pantry Crafters
- Enterprise Schools Club from Willows High
- Marci and Cecilia’s Upcycled Crafts
- Emma-Kate Francis Jewellery
- Vessels Pottery
- ReCherished Crafts
- Graig yr Afal Cider
- Tillyt Design, mixed media artist
- GoodShed
- Seren Willow
- Pop up boutique charity shop by the SAFE Foundation
- Knitted and crocheted gifts from Wool Witch
- Handmade crafts from Awen Collective
- Upcycled clothes from Frili Jilli
- Splo-Down Food Coop
- Liz’s gingerbread
- Benthyg
- Block Printing with XR Cardiff
- Cross stitch and hand made children’s clothes by Gorgeous Franks
- Alice Boswell’s screen prints
- Gifts for cyclists from Cardiff Cargo Bikes
- City Hospice KnitWits
- Artist Laura Thomas Walters
- The Railway Gardens Growing Group
Things to see and do
Scheduled activities
11:15am – 12pm: Oasis One World Choir
11:30 – 12:30pm: Circus play with NoFit State
12 – 12:15pm: Poetry from Saoirse Anton
12:30 – 1:15pm: Music from Cosmo
1:30 -2:30pm: Circus play with NoFit State
1:30 – 2:15pm: Acoustic music and covers with Thoby Davis
2:15pm: Jazzy Christmas with Gentle Rain
All afternoon
- Crafts in the Green Squirrel office: Make kissing bunches with Becca
- Fabric printing with Extinction Rebellion
- Pop into the Hub for mulled wine (including a non-alcoholic version), mulled punch, cake sale and the toy, book and game exchange (see below).
Toy, book and board game exchange
This is a great chance to have a clearout before Christmas and to pick up some free gifts and treats! You can drop off your items every Wednesday, 10am – 4pm or Saturday, 10 – 12pm between now and December 9th, or you can bring items along on the day. This is a ‘bring what you have, take what you need’ event so everything is free! We do ask everyone to follow a few guidelines when deciding what to bring:
Yes please:
- Working toys with all their parts and pieces
- Clean cuddly toys
- Children’s books
- Jigsaw puzzles with all of their pieces
- Craft sets or supplies in useable condition
- Board games suitable for any age
- Outdoor toys – if it’s something larger (like a play house or a slide) please bring a picture of it with details of when and how it can be collected, or email a picture and details to hannah@greensquirrel.co.uk
No thank you
- Broken, damaged, or dirty items
- Jigsaw puzzles or games with pieces missing
- Magazines
- Used sticker, puzzle or activity books
- Baby equipment (car seats, bottles etc)
- Any items that aren’t toys, children’s books, or board games.
Please don’t leave items outside of our gates as they are likely to get damaged – or we might get in trouble with Cardiff council for flytipping!
Could you volunteer at this event?
We need YOU to help make this event a success! Here’s how you can get involved – please us the contact form below to get in touch and tell us how you’re interested in helping.
- Leaflet and poster distributors: We’ll need a hand in the lead up to the event to deliver flyers to local homes and take posters to local venues. You will be able to collect the materials from site and we’ll assign you a manageable group of houses to deliver to.
- Stewards: we need friendly stewards to welcome visitors, help them find out what’s on, answer questions and help us keep the site safe and lovely. You may also be helping out with taking donations, selling mulled wine, or looking after performers as they arrive. You can steward for a two hour slot (11 – 1pm or 1 – 3pm) or for the whole event. No experience is needed and all stewards helping for the full event will get a hot lunch from Things on Toast.
- Set up, pack down volunteers. Could you join us between 9am and 11am to help set up? This will include putting up decorations and decorating the tree, putting up gazebos, helping providers set up and making the cake stall look lovely! We also need pack down volunteers between 4 – 5pm to reset the site.
- Cake bakers! Could you bake something for the cake stall? Cakes, biscuits, and all baked goods very welcome. If you are planning on bringing a cake please label it with any useful dietary info (dairy free, gluten free, vegan etc
