Aspergers Victoria has once again been invited to apply for invitations to the very popular Special Children's Christmas Party. We are grateful to Variety for including a free ticket allocation for our Members every year for at least the last eight years, with many loving the experience. This years event is planned to be held:

• When: Saturday 5 December 2020
• Time: 9.30am - 1pm
• Where: Melbourne Showgrounds

Pending Government COVID-19 regulations, a four hour stage show featuring many local and national celebrities is planned to entertain the children, and parents. There will be activities such as merry go-rounds, jumping castles, face painting, food, drinks, lollies and ice creams. Of course no Christmas party is complete without Santa and after greeting the children from the stage he will go off to his toy room. There he will meet with all the children individually as they come to collect 2 or 3 brand new presents to take home and call their own.

This is a completely free day, unique because it will be all inclusive just for children who have additional needs. Variety have advised us that they plan for the event to go ahead in some way if COVID-19 restrictions are still in place. Such celebrations will be so important for our children this year.

To be eligible to request an invitation you need:

• a current membership with Aspergers Victoria. Not a member? You can join now; and
• Your child must be 12 years or under and have Aspergers/Autism.

Your child must be accompanied by a Parent or Caregiver as no child minding facilities will be available. Siblings are welcome to attend and go on rides, however they won’t be able to receive presents from Santa. If you would like tickets for your child please email Paige by Thursday 27 August with:

1. your name and email,
2. your child’s name and
3. your child’s age (for the Santa gift) and gender preference

If you have any further questions about the event, you can visit www.sccpau.com.au/faqparents.

Please remember, this is only a request for an invitation, not a guarantee that you will receive one. Each year, the organisers have over 6,000 requests for children to attend and it’s not possible to accommodate that many children with Special Needs. We are very lucky to have our dedicated allocation each year and appreciate the support from Variety to Aspergers Victoria’s members!

We hope you and your families are safe and stay well. We look forward to seeing you at one of our online community activities during COVID-19. Please email us if you need any support at this time.