THE story we carried about the success of the Santa Benarty was a heart warming one.

In the week running up to Christmas to have a community group organise an appeal which sees hundreds of gifts donated for needy families is simply amazing.

Three local people spearheaded the plan and it gathered momentum and showed the amazing community spirit that exists in the four villages of Glencraig, Crosshill, Ballingry and Lochore.

And the word spread through social media to encourage Benarty people living in different parts of the country to get involved.

The donations from those people and the deluge from local people saw a truly unbelievable seen at the storage base provided by Benarty Construction.

The generosity of everyone was heart warming and saw so many children given a Christmas to remember that they would not otherwise have had.

The generosity of the public made it an amazing success but without the work of James Fotheringham, Billy McKean and Mike Payne the whole venture would not have been possible.

The trio put their heart and soul into the project and were helped by a superb team of volunteers.

It all meant that Santa Benarty, in its first year, was a massive success and everyone who made a contribution needs to be given a big pat on the back.