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: An evening of warm and welcoming festive fun, in collaboration with the Eco Market Collective
When: Wednesday, December 11th, 5pm–9pm.
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
- You’ll find hot food options at Seal and Bear Cafe.
- The SAFE Foundation will be offered sustainably sourced coffee, hot chocolate, and more from Betty the Bus.
- The Railway Gardens team will be serving up steaming mulled wine and non-alcoholic spiced apple to raise funds for the project – please bring your own cup if you can! Plus we’ll have a tasty cake stall.
Festive Market
This year our friends at the wonderful EcoMarket Collective are planning a market packed with indepndent and local ethical and sustainable traders. There will be plenty to choose from including…
- Bombus: upcycling discarded clothing and textiles into accessories such as satchels, totes, scrunchies, purses, wallets & more.
- goodShed: Handmade wood crafts
- The Ethical Boutique: Beautiful preloved and vintage clothing
- Colourfield: naturally printed and dyed paper and textiles using sustainable, ethical and recycled materials.
- Caru Crafts: upcycled and reused crafts and gifts
- Gorgeous Franks: a maker from Splott, creating bilingual cross-stitch Christmas tree decorations and sewing colourful clothing for small people, accessories and gifts using leftover and deadstock fabrics that would normally end up in landfill.
- Woolwitch: beautiful crocheted gifts
- DeLloyd Designs: cards, textile art and accessories made with reclaimed materials
- The Snuggly Squirrel: Handcrafted crochet necklaces and unique accessories. A range of cosy, one-of-a-kind items, including Christmas tree decorations, mug cosies, and coasters—perfect for gifts or adding a personal touch to your home.
- The Railway Gardeners: Plants and handmade crafts from the Gardens
Things to see and do
Scheduled activities
5:30 -6pm: Joyous music and song with Oasis One World Choir
6 – 7pm: Magical winter tales with Cath Little,
7:15 – 7:45pm: Christmas Harp Classics with Sam Hickman
8 – 8:30pm: Christmas classics and covers with Thoby, local musician and songwriter.
Plus keep an eye out for a special visit from the Mari Lwyd!
All evening
- Make a traditional foraged kissing bunch to decorate your home (by donation)
- Make a beautiful wooden ornament for your tree or to give as a gift
- Drop in to the toy, game, and book exchange to find a treat! More info below…
- Choose a hand made card and write a message to a climate protestor spending Christmas in prison
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 on Tuesday 10th or Wednesday 11th between 10am – 4pm, or you can bring items along to the event, before 5:30pm. 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.
- 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 (1- 3pm or 3 – 5pm) or for the whole event. No experience is needed and all stewards helping for the full event will get a hot lunch as well as being invited to stay for chips and drinks afterwards.
- Set up, pack down volunteers. Could you join us between 11am and 1pm 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 5-6pm 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)
