{"id":555,"date":"2025-11-18T08:49:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T08:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=555"},"modified":"2025-11-18T08:49:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T08:49:53","slug":"sacked-shopping-centre-santa-questions-future-i-was-born-to-be-st-nick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=555","title":{"rendered":"Sacked shopping centre Santa questions future: \u2018I was born to be St Nick\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Santa Claus has spoken of his devastation after he was barred from returning to his usual shopping centre this Christmas.<\/p>\n

Mike Ashcroft has donned the iconic red suit and snowy white beard for 50 years to keep the magic of Christmas alive in children\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

For the past three years, he had been Father Christmas at the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet in the\u00a0West Midlands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He told: \u2018I\u2019m a natural Santa, I was born to be him.<\/p>\n

\u2018The children\u2019s reaction is the best part about being Santa, especially those on the cusp of not believing where I manage to turn them round with some evidence.\u2019<\/p>\n

But Mike won\u2019t be seeing kids\u2019 faces light up at his usual grotto this year.<\/p>\n

He was \u2018disappointed and a little angry\u2019 when McArthurGlen Designer Outlet decided to opt with a different Santa this year, especially with such short notice for him.<\/p>\n

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The company he works with donates most of its profits to\u00a0NHS\u00a0<\/a>charities<\/a>, so without a new venue they risked being left with \u00a33,000 worth of unused chocolate.<\/p>\n

Determined to find an alternative, Mike posted on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0expressing his frustration and to his surprise it got thousands of likes and comments.<\/p>\n

In the post, he said: \u2018The shopping outlet aforementioned have decided that it shouldn\u2019t be about the children, but pure profit for them.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ll miss seeing all those beautiful little faces and the wonder in their eyes.<\/p>\n

\u2018If you think it may be appropriate to avoid said shopping outlet, that\u2019s entirely your decision.\u2019<\/p>\n

Many parents who have visited Mike as Santa took to his post to share support.<\/p>\n

One parent commented: \u2018We\u2019ve been to see you the last couple of years. My children absolutely loved you, their faces lit up.<\/p>\n

\u2018As parents it was great, real value for money and when money can be tight anyway it was perfect.<\/p>\n

\u2018I won\u2019t be going there as it\u2019s pure greed. I hope you find somewhere as you were absolutely brilliant.\u2019<\/p>\n

During his time at the outlet\u2019s grotto, there was a \u00a35 charge for a grotto visit, a photo and a gifted chocolate. But this year, the cost has, on some dates, tripled.<\/p>\n

Another mum commented: \u2018You made our Christmas so special last year. You had so much kindness for our little boy who is non verbal and has\u00a0Autism<\/a>\u00a0and Global Development delay. I left questioning if you were the real Santa.<\/p>\n

\u2018Keep shining your magic whenever it will be this year and agree with you for not working at the Outlet.\u2019<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Mike and his company have secured a grotto in Cannock Town Shopping Centre where there is also a soft play facility and crazy golf for cheap prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Santa Claus has spoken of his devastation after he was barred from returning to his usual shopping centre this Christmas. Mike Ashcroft has donned the iconic red suit and snowy white beard for 50 years to keep the magic of Christmas alive in children\u2019s eyes. For the past three years, he had been Father […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t