Hundreds of local residents turned out for a Christmas extravaganza to get everyone in the mood for the beginning of the festive season.

The community’s popular LIFT Millennium Centre was the venue for an evening of family fun featuring pizza, advent calendars and goodie bags with entertainment provided by ‘Amazing Harmonies’ local choir. The highlight of the event was the lighting of the Christmas tree and, of course, a visit from none other than Santa.

The event organised by Muirhouse Housing Association in collaboration with LIFT said they were “delighted” with the turnout and it was the ideal festive scene-setter in the run-up to Christmas itself.

Muirhouse chief executive Susan Bell said the occasion was an outstanding success and thanked the community for their support by coming along.

Susan said: “It was great to see the community come together once again and the excitement from the kids who came along provided an energy to the evening. We hope everyone had a fantastic time and a wonderful Christmas when it comes.”

Muirhouse is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year having been founded in 1992 to tackle some of the challenges in the area at that time.

Susan added: “This is a special year for us at Muirhouse as we celebrate three decades of service to our community. When you have a milestone for the organisation you look back and as the new chief executive it has given me an opportunity to see the achievement made by the organisation over the last thirty years. We have been very clear that any celebrations should have a firm community theme and our Christmas event certainly achieved that.”

The “LIFT Millennium Centre” - as the name suggests - was opened in 2000 and has been a vital community asset for almost a quarter of a century. LIFT stands for Low Income Families Together and provides a valuable resource within Muirhouse.

Almost immediately after the event, one tenant took the time to write to the Association saying: “I just wanted to say thank you for organising the Christmas event at the Millennium Centre. I took my little boy along and he had such a great time. It was so nice to just sit and chat and let him dance and do some arts and crafts. He really enjoyed the pizza and says I’ve to learn how to make it just like they did because it was the ‘best ever pizza’ and he has decorated a bauble to hang on our tree!

“Thank you again, these small memories are the ones the kids will remember the most and I’m so glad we were able to be a part of tonight.”