Ho-ho-Howard Civil Engineering! For Day 9 of #12DaysOfHCE Santa Claus paid a visit to primary school pupils in Bradford this Christmas, at the special request of the Howard Civil Engineering elves!

Santa Claus surprised pupils at Greengates Primary Academy last week and asked them for a very special favour – to scatter eco-friendly and biodegradable reindeer food in their gardens on Christmas Eve to help his reindeer find their homes and keep them fit and flying.

(Left) Santa's sleigh looks a little different this year... (Right) Calverley C of E Primary School Year 2 pupils Jonah and Darcy loved their reindeer food

Unfortunately, Santa was unable to visit children at Calverley C of E Primary School due to COVID restrictions, but he kindly asked his elves to leave lots of reindeer food with the school’s teachers.

“It was wonderful to be able to spread a little festive cheer to school children in Bradford last week,” said Howard Civil Engineering’s community liaison officer Sophie Henderson. “The children were absolutely enamoured by Santa Claus and loved the fact that his reindeer food was eco-friendly, as they have been learning about plastic pollutants and the importance of caring for their environment.”

Pupils at Greengates Primary Academy were very excited to meet Santa Claus

“Howard Civil Engineering wholeheartedly share this eco-conscious awareness and it was fantastic to help the future generation be more conscious about their impact on the environment.”

Andrew Gaunt, headmaster at Greengates Primary Academy, said: “Thank you to Howards for the Secret Santa visit today - the children were so excited to see him in their classrooms.  The children loved their reindeer food and most certainly will sprinkle it on Christmas Eve. It was a lovely surprise way to end the term. “

The Howard Civil Engineering team individually wrapped 700 bags of eco-friendly reindeer food for Greengates children

“Merry Christmas and a huge thank you for the support, communication and help over the last year from Howards, enabling us to maintain a school with the minimum of fuss during the [Greengates junction] road works and make huge progress in developing our school grounds.”

Throughout December, Howard Civil Engineering is spreading festive cheer by donating £5,000 to a variety of charities and community groups across Yorkshire! We have chosen 12 different causes to help this festive period and we will be documenting these throughout the month using the hashtag #12DaysOfHCE.