Now that Santa is safely back in Lapland Wigan Rotary Club had to find somewhere to store the sleigh used during his visits to Wigan during December. Thanks to the generosity of Billinge farmer John Alker the sleigh is now safely under cover in one of the barns on his farm.

As a thank you the Rotary Club made a donation to The Hamlet café at Three Sisters which is run by his daughter Gemma. The café is staffed by trainees with additional needs, both male and female, between the ages of 18 and 25 and with the help of Gemma are learning all the skills attached to running a café. The Hamlet opened to the public on the 8th January.
‘We’re very grateful to Wigan Rotary Club for the donation’ said Gemma ‘and are currently making a laundry room for the trainees to learn independent living skills by taking responsibility of their work clothes. The donation will help us to purchase a dryer.’ She continued ‘the café is in a lovely spot overlooking the lake and we hope lots of people will come and take advantage of the new facility and give us their support.’

Wigan Rotary Club President John Wright said ‘we are very grateful to John for the use of his barn and delighted we can help Gemma with this very worthwhile venture and congratulate her on obtaining the funding and for all the work she has already done to get if off the ground. We wish her every success with the venture. I know some of our members are already planning a visit to the café to sample the menu!’

For anyone interested the café is at WN4 8DD. If you go towards the Three Sisters race track entrance you will see a yellow barrier to the right; go under the barrier and follow the track down to the lake. The cafe is situated in the house near the car park.