Children can still visit Santa in his fancy new Boston grotto

Matti Pajula and Metsa Wood's engineering team present the grotto to Lisa from Pescod Square.

Pescod Shopping Centre called upon the help of Metsä Wood UK to see if their existing grotto could be renovated.

But the grotto that had served Boston well over the years was deemed ‘beyond repair’ and it was decided by the engineering team to give the town ‘a new grotto to be proud of’.

The grotto was launched at the Christmas switch-on event in Boston recently - but children can still visit Santa there every weekend from now until Christmas, 10am to 4pm each day.

There's still time to visit Santa in his grotto at Pescod Square shopping centre in Boston.

Designing a new grotto for Boston was a task taken on with attention to details for Metsä Wood UK.

Steve English and his team said they took inspiration from pictures of grottos in Lapland - and also sought feedback from their teams in Finland. Using this, they designed the new grotto complete with finishing touches such as a fireplace and a vaulted ceiling. Constructed from plywood and shiplap and insulated so it’s warm for Santa Claus and his little visitors and fitted onto a specially converted chassis which allows easy movement and storage of the grotto, no detail was left unturned by the project team.

Metsa Wood UK managing director Matti Pajula commented: “At Metsä Wood we are happy of the opportunity to bring the Christmas grotto to Boston. I hope it will bring joy to children and families in Boston. On behalf of all Metsä employees I want to wish you Merry Christmas.’’

Lisa Dawson, manager of Pescod Shopping Centre said: “Pescod Square is exceptionally overjoyed with the new grotto and have been incredibly humbled by the generosity of Metsä Wood. The team at Metsä Wood took the original brief, and with regular consultations and visits, Metsä Wood and it’s incredibly talented colleagues have gone above and beyond our wildest expectations.

“We are so excited to see the delight each and every child and family will experience in the new grotto. We are expecting a bumper turn out this year, as unfortunately we could not run the grotto last year, and we are sure Santa will love his new grotto – thank you Metsä Wood.”