Just over a week ago, we were invited to a very special event at Hamleys toy store in London. The infamous Fat Controller (or for the PC amongst you, Sir Topham Hatt!) was taking some time off from his duties on Sodor, to visit the finest toy shop in the world and launch an epic Christmas journey to deliver presents to sick children in hospitals across the UK and Ireland. We headed to the Regent Street store to meet him in person and enjoy some all round fun with Thomas & Friends™ as they got their Tracks4Thomas campaign underway…
Allegra isn’t a huge Thomas & Friends fan, but this didn’t stop her having a whale of a time at the event. I couldn’t believe she actually posed for a photo with The Fat Controller – but then he was a particularly lovely and friendly chap, so he made her feel at ease straight away – and she absolutely loved the story time session with him, where she sat virtually hanging on his every word!
We had lots of fun at Hamleys – who gave us exclusive access to the store one hour before official opening time, amazing! – at the launch event. Allegra got to indulge in one of her favourite things ever… face-painting! Plus there was balloon modelling and story-telling, the chance to get a special Christmas photo with Thomas, and some yummy snacks and treats were also there for us to enjoy too: what a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning!
I hadn’t realised that the creator of the Thomas stories, the Reverend W. Awdry, originally created Thomas the Tank Engine™ to cheer up his son when he was sick. So it seems fitting now that in the same spirit, Thomas & Friends are on a mission to bring some Christmas cheer to children in hospitals at this time of the year and you can get involved and show your support to, by logging in at www.Tracks4Thomas.com via Facebook or Twitter and adding a piece of virtual track to Thomas & Friends’ Christmas journey.
It’s a great campaign, so I do urge you to hop on over to the website and show your support – it literally takes a few seconds to lay down some “virtual track” and you’ll be entered into a competition to win some great prizes. Plus, if you’d like to meet The Fat Controller himself, then he’ll be at Hamleys Glasgow on the 24th November and Dublin on 1st December.
Full Steam Ahead!
